Dream Machine
by shadowsythe22
Summary: when a marine assigned to lead a group of scientists through a machine dubbed the Dream Arch he carried out his duties without hesitation. but when the machine melts down he is flung into the world of my little pony. after a bit of meddling in their world he soon discovers that returning will not be as easy as he thought. will he ever return. (rated M for occasional clop scenes.)
1. Chapter 1: same shit different dimension

it's the year 2156 mankind has flourished and overcome all known illnesses such as cancer and aids and many other problems such as global warming and overpopulation. so far the world has known peace since the great war of 2116. and mankind has also made great strides in the field of science.

recently scientists have discovered and alternate dimension that houses the imagination of mankind. this dimension is broken up in sub-dimensions. the sub dimensions are small groups of imaginative characters or creatures that share similar qualities. we have noticed that not only imaginative beings but also worlds that we've been monitoring but it also seems the world from cartoons, movies, books, and other means of entertainment have found their way into the world of imagination.

we recently discovered a wormhole that can take us to any place in our imagination. we call it the dream arch. NASA has been working on it to link to the wormhole for quite some time. they finally finished and the test run is tomorrow.

My name is alex wesson. im a security escort for the scientists heading through the arch. so i should start getting ready for the big day tomorrow. i got to bed early so i could wake up and get ready. i dreamt of being in my dreams when we go through the ark. but then again if i dream about going into my dreams what would that look like.

i woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. i proceeded with my regular morning routine. i got up, showered, made breakfast then i hit the road. i got in my car and played some classical music like the beatles and some AC DC. i soon came up on the lab where the ark was housed.

you may think why im driving a car and not some kind of hover craft. well they tried that. i was at one of the test labs for the new hover cars. mistakes were made and accidents happened. in the end the idea was abandoned and nobody spoke of it again.

i soon arrived to my station at area 51. parked my car, got out, and headed into the facility. ever since the war of 2116 area 51 became less more of an open facility. it was part of a treaty signed with britain that our governments are to be more open and less discreet. but we still have our little secrets and i'm sure they do too.

i went in checked out and was given my standard equipment. A GX 84 plasma rifle, and a standard p50 concussion pistol. the thought of a security escort was a bit of a shaky subject but some tests have showed that our imagination might not be the safest place in the world or in this case the multiverse.

so after various procedures and protocols there i was one of three escorts in a team of ten men and women. and there we were right in front of the arch. i was designated to go in first and call the all clear. i heard the science guys mumbling about coordinates and blurting out some miscellaneous numbers.

well it was finally on the arch began to glow and spin and flash. to be honest i didn't think any amount of training could prepare me for this. the scientists however were completely calm. they didn't know the bad news though. the reason we have a security escort is because we're not completely sure where in the land of imagination the arch will take us. it could be anywhere from a book to an R rated movie. so this definitely presented a problem.

i stepped into the center. and waited for the count down

"5...4...3...2...1..."

"activate final transportation procedure." one of the scientists said.

i closed my eyes and waited for something to happen but nothing happened. i opened my eyes to see what was happening. the scientists were waving or something but the arch was far too loud. then the siren went off the arch started sparking and then there was a huge flash and everything went white. i could see all of my memories flashing before my eyes and then some. the light just kept getting brighter in my eyes but then it was dark.

i could feel myself falling and falling into a pit of endless darkness. then i felt a thud and knew i had hit the ground. i should have been killed i should at least be in terrible pain from the way i was falling. but i was just fine.

when i opened my eyes it was still dark but at the same time it was bright and colorful. i stood up and looked around and it looked like i was in some sort of cartoon. i was stuck in some kind of forest. i bent down and grabbed my rifle and started into the woods. i started looking around but there wasn't much it was just another dark forest. i continued to wander around until i was startled by a large growl. in a wall of darkness i could see a pair of green eyes.

i tried to get a closer look but the beast growled and tried to warn me off. i walked closer anyway. the large creature emerged from the shadows. it had thick green scales and large jagged spines on its back. it looked like some kind of giant lizard. i tried to scare it away with a warning shot but it only seemed to make the situation worse.

before i could fire again the beast released a torrent of flames from its mouth. before it was too late i jumped out of the way into some of the plantlife hoping that i could get away from the evil creature. the creature shot another wave of fire in my direction. i knew that hiding wasn't going to work because soon the surrounding area was completely of fire. i stepped out of my hiding spot behind the dragon and emptied half a clip into its back.

the beast roared in pain. i swatted me with its tail. the impact made a large thud as i went flying through the air and into i nearby tree. the beast roared one more time and crawled away in pain. i sat the badly wounded. I'm very certain that hit broke one or two of my ribs. i reached into my bag pulled out some cloth and water and cleaned out my cuts and scrapes. then pulled out a stim pack and injected it into my chest. that should probably fix my broken limbs in about an hour. still hurt and exhausted i shut my eyes and drifted into sleep.

after a while i could hear some voices in my head but i thought i was just dreaming. but soon they started to sound real but they were blurry. maybe they were my team mates or the other scientists. i tried to force myself awake. i managed to open my eyes but everything was too blurry. all i saw was a mess of colors. i could hear the them talking though

"HEY! what's this?"

"i've never seen anything like it."

"ah reckon its sum kinda monkey or sumthin"

"oh my it's clothing is absolutely atrocious"

"i've never read anout anything like it."

"uhg c'mon it's probably just dead lets get going.".

"uhhg, wait...WAIT" i muttered out trying to see who the company was.

"HEY! its ok" one of them said. still trying to assess the situation i asked again.

"who's there, where am i."my vision finally started to focus and i could make the shape of their faces. there were six creatures standing over me there was a purple one with a horn, an orange one with a hat, a pink one with curly hair and a huge smile, a white one which also had a horn, a yellow one with pink hair, and there was one with rainbow colored hair. i slowly stood up and towered over the six creatures before me. they took a few steps back and could only look up in shock and confusion.

i looked at them and they...looked like horses. but they were incredibly small. they stood maybe up to my waist at the most. they looked rather familiar the shapes and colors where similar to something at our world. i just couldn't put my finger on it.

"uhm hello...uh...mr?" the purple pony said. the voice was recognizable but i still couldn't think of it. it also sounded female. she seemed confused but then again so was I. well atleast i know for sure they speak english. i still wasn't sure how to approach the situation so i just stood there.

"maybe he doesn't understand you" the yellow one said

"uhm hello," i said "who are you?"

"HI IM PINKIE PIE!" the pink pony suddenly appeared in front of my face.

i stepped back in shock. i stared at it and breathed heavily. it looked like the pink pony was confused by my reaction. i didn't make much of it though and i started to pay more attention to the other five.

"anyway... my name is twilight sparkle" the purple pony said.

"im rainbow dash" the rainbow haired pony said .

"oh that's clever" i thought in my mind sarcastically.

"mah names applejack."the orange one said.

"i am rarity." the white one said.

"and...uhm i'm...fluttershy."

"who are you?" asked rainbow dash.

"the names alex...Alex Wesson"

"where did you come from?" asked twilight .

"well thats a bit of a tough question, where to start well..."

"hey what's that,"pinkie said interrupting me "and that and that and that?" she continued pointing at the various tools and weapons on my body.

"uh well this," i said holding up my rifle "is my primary weapon then i've got my secondary pistol, extra ammo, grenades, 9 bangers, and a flashlight"

"wait im confused what is all this stuff" twilight said as she walked up to me and examined me. "i've never seen this kind of stuff before" she continued

"well everything but the flashlight is a weapon"

"why do you have so many weapons with you." the rainbow haired horse said. i looked over to her and it took only a second to notice she had wings and was flying. this was a bit shocking. "well!" she said staring at me viciously. i didn't really know how to approach that question delicately but before i could the purple horse interrupted.

"so what's a flashlight" twilight asked. i grabbed my flashlight and turned it on when the light hit the ground they all stepped back except and rainbow haired horse with the wings. she sort of just floated there. and the yellow one jumped into the air about 4 feet and flew away. apparently she had wings too.

"WOW! i've never seen anything like this"

"what kinda fancy magic is that?" said applejack.

"magic? what do you mean magic...it's just a flashlight." they all stared at me in confusion. i spent at least a half an hour explaining all of my tools and weapons they didn't seem very happy when i started to tell them what i use my rifle and pistol for. i asked them where they lived and they told me they lived in ponyville.

they told me that an evil pony named nightmare moon has made the night last forever and that they are on their way to an old castle to find these things called the elements of harmony or whatever.

"Hey why do you come with us." the pink pony said enthusiastically.

"hmm...i don't see why not." the purple one said."do you want to come with us?"

it was definitely an interesting offer and it's not like i have anything else to do. besides i should try to learn as much as i can from this world. and hanging around with these...uh...ponies are probably the best way to do that. i went to take a step and felt a horrible sting in my right leg. i must have sprained it when i was fighting the dragon. i couldn't feel it then but i sure can feel it now.

the purple pony noticed that i was limping and spoke up.

"wait a minute. you're hurt." i knew she was talking to me.

"no, i'm fine."

"let me heal you i just learned a spell of minor healing."

"Spell?" i said in confusion. but before i could continue she closed her eyes and the horn on her head started to glow. she walked over to me and touched her horn to my leg. there was a bright light and i could feel the pain in my leg slowly fade.

that's when it hit me. i knew what this place is. i have been sucked into the T.V. show my little pony friendship is magic. it makes sense now. the only way i know this is because my daughter jenny loves the show. she watches it all the time. she usually makes me watch it with her but i often don't pay much attention. i decided to play it cool and thank twilight.

we started to make our way through the forest when all of a sudden the ground broke underneath us. we started sliding down the mountain. i saw a cliff ahead of us so i tried to keep myself from falling but there was nothing around. i soon felt myself in a free fall but i managed to see a root sticking from the side of the cliff and i grabbed onto it. i looked up and saw rainbow dash and fluttershy carry down pinkie pie and rarity. i then heard someone scream. i looked up and saw twilight falling down. i reached out my arm and managed to grab her. she didn't weigh much. and she was surprisingly soft and squishy like a looked dazed and confused. i threw her over my shoulder and started to climb down i could see applejack jumping down from ledge to ledge heading down too. i reached the bottom and set twilight down.

"thanks alex." she said giving me a big smile.

"well what was that nonsense all about." said applejack.

"That wasn't very fun." said pinkie pie.

"we should probably watch our steps from here on out." i said. i looked towards the six ponies who nodded in continued through the forest wondering how a mountainside like that could just collapse. we were then interrupted by a deafening roar. in the middle of the path was a lion looking creature with a scorpion tale

"a manticore!" they all shouted.

i quickly pulled up my gun and tried to scare it away with a warning shot. it didn't work it just made it mad. i looked back and saw the six ponies looking at my gun in confusion. but there was a more important matter right now. i looked back at the manticore who was only about five feet from me now.

i jumped out of the way but one of the manticores claws cut into my left arm. i howled in pain and fell to the ground. i grabbed a flash grenade off of my belt. not thinking of how the ponies would react to it i pulled the pin and threw it. it landed right under the manticore and the ponies stared at it awkwardly. thats not good.

"close your eyes NOW!" i said before the flash could go off. i put my arm over my eyes and looked away and so did the six ponies. the flash went off and the manticore roared intensely. it fell to the ground and started to thrash about. in the confusion the manticores tail lashed out and jabbed my left leg. i yelped out in pain.

i was getting mad now. i looked around for my rifle but it was tossed to the side. i started to make my way over. the other ponies were still dazed and confused from the flash. it looks like some of them didn't cover their eyes well enough. i finally got to my gun.

i picked it up and pointed it at the manticore. i pulled the trigger but all i heard was a click. i ejected the empty clip and replaced it with a new one. i pointed the newly rearmed gun at the manticore but the yellow pegasus pony jumped on me and pushed the gun away before i could fire

"NOOOO! Don't hurt him." she said. she then started to walk over to the snarling beast which was recovering from the flash

"get away from that thing its vicious."

"its not vicious he's just grumpy" she said petting the large beast on the head.

"aren't you boy" she started caring to it and bandaged up its wound. it was only grumpy because it had a thorn stuck in its paw. the other ponies came over to me to see if i was alright. i took off my jacket to see the damage. the others stopped and gasped. i looked down and almost fainted. that manticore nearly tore my arm off.

i sat there in shock. the sudden rush of combat was fading and my body stopped pumping adrenalin so the pain start to come into waves. i fell back in pain grasping my arm. the slash tore through most of my skin and cut into the bone. the cut was very deep.

"gha...FUCK!" i shouted. i looked at the ponies but they only seemed confused as to what i said. then i remembered that this is a kids show. supposedly there is no sex, drugs, or violence. well we can already rule out violence. i'm starting to think my presence here is starting to change this world or some bull-shit like that.

twilight closed her eyes and her horn started to glow she brought it to my arm and started to heal it but the wound was too great and it couldn't completely close. but it wasn't much worse than it was before. she also healed my leg too. i got up and grabbed my bag. i left my jacket because it was of no use now. but i kept my vest on no use wasting good grenades. who knows i might need them.

we started to wander into the forest again and left the manticore to its business. we continued to walk and walk. there wasn't much talking because there really wasn't much to talk about the whole trip has been kind of awkward. i just hope the boys back at area 51 can pull me out of this. oh the stories i would tell.

"uhhg my eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." said rarity. after she said that the brush of the forest thickened and it became darker."well i didn't mean that literally." i pulled out my flashlight and turned it on and flashed it forward. they still seemed pretty amazed by the flash light. i pointed it forward at a tree and everybody screamed. the tree had a scary looking face on it but i wasn't particularly freaked ponies kept screaming but then they were interrupted by someone laughing. it was pinkie pie

"pinkie what are you doing RUN" said twilight.

"oh girls don't you see" she replied

suddenly there was a strange tune in the background and the pink one started to sing and dance and hop around, eventually they were all singing and dancing and laughing i just stood there watching and i thought to myself "what the fuck". suddenly i started to snicker to myself then i was giggling and then i was laughing. something was making me laugh. trust me i wasn't laughing on my own. when you're working with scientists as a marine who doesn't know shit about nothing and isn't paid to you often forget how to laugh. but i seemed to just enjoy myself. about 2 minutes of laughing i gave up my will to fight back we started walking through the forest STILL LAUGHING somehow. we made a turn and were stopped by pinkie pie. she stopped at a raging river.

we looked over and knew there probably was no way to cross. we were all of a sudden drenched with water. i was soaked. there was something crying in the river. i looked over and there was a raging sea beast making tons of waves. i fired two shots and scared it out of crying.

"WOULD YOU GET RID OF THAT THING!" rarity said shoving my gun to the ground. she was probably right. if this is a show i might be screwing it up.

"what's the problem mr." asked twilight

"oh i don't know," the sea beast said "one minute i was sitting here minding my own business when all of a sudden a tacky little cloud of purple smoke whisked by and tore off half of my beautiful mustache."

"and this is a problem" said rainbow dash

"of course its a problem, i mean look at his beautiful mane."

"oh i know"

"his gorgeous scales"

"oh i knoooow"

"all ruined without his beautiful moustache."

"oooh i knoooow"

"i cannot let such a crime of fabulosity go uncorrected" rarity grabbed a scale off of the great beast and held it high. honestly i thought she would cut it but she sliced off her own tail and used her magic or whatever to fuse it to the sea beast giving him the worst mustache i've ever seen on anything.

"rarity your tail."

"oh it's quite alright, short tails are in this season anyway" they started to make their way through when the beast picked them up and put them on the other side so they wouldn't get wet. but he left me on the other side. i guess i deserved it for shooting at him.

"ya kinda deserved that for shooting at him." said applejack

"yeah i figured that." i started to make my way across but the rapids picked up again and i slipped and got whisked away. i managed to grab onto a rock and get above the water but i wasn't even halfway across. i dove back in and used the rocks to help me. i managed to make my way across. i hit the ground for a second to catch my breath and then i got up. we continued on our way to the castle we managed to find it but the bridge over the gap was broken.

"how are we supposed to get across now?"said twilight

"uhm duh with these." rainbow dash said extending her wings. she flew down the gap and grabbed the bridge. and went to the other side. suddenly a thick fog started to form obscuring my vision. i saw three other ponies in some kind of uniform talking to rainbow dash.

"oh no." twilight said. "alex do you have anything to clear this fog with?"

"uhh yeah i do" i said. i reached into my bag and pulled out a flare. i popped the cap and threw it across the gap but the fog didn't clear. rainbow dash then flew back over and told us the bridge was safe to cross. the six ponies made their way across.

i stepped onto the rope bridge and it started to shake and creak. i slowly made my way to the middle of the bridge. one of the boards under me broke and my leg fell through. i pulled up and the ropes gave in and collapsed. i grabbed one of the broken ropes and put my feet out and stopped myself against the canyon wall .i looked up and saw twilight and rainbow dash stick their heads over.

"How many times are you going to get yourself killed today" said rainbow dash.

I'm not even going to respond to that. i grabbed the planks of the broken bridge and climbed up it like a ladder. i quickly made my way to the top so that the bridge didn't break again and i fell to my death. i pulled myself up and brushed myself off. and with that over we headed towards what looked like an abandoned castle.

we walked inside and it was dark. we walked around a few hall and corridors before we found a large open room with some kind of monument in it. it was quite a large monument with some strange stone spheres being held up by it.

"look that's them." said twilight. her horn started to glow and she levitated them over to her. she sat down and began to concentrate. she told us to let her concentrate so i walked over to some of the walls and windows and looked at the pictures inscribed on them. i had a feeling that these things told great stories of something if only i knew how to read in their written language.

suddenly there was a bright flash and then it was gone. i looked behind me and twilight was gone.

"where is she?" said rarity.

"i dun know?" said applejack.

"girls look." said fluttershy pointing over through a window. in a tower far from the window there was a bright flash. she must have teleported or something. without hesitation we set off into that direction. we ran down corridors and hallways until we got to a giant stone staircase. i made my way up the stairs but the others quickly outran me.

"hurry up slow-poke" said rainbow dash.

i started to run faster but something caught my vest. it was some kind of branch of something. i tugged and pulled. i got free and looked back. it was a branch. and on the branch was some kind of pin...OH SHIT. i quickly threw the vest off of me but it was too late one of my flash grenades went off and i was blinded. next thing i knew i was falling down the stairs.

i hit the bottom and still couldn't see. i slowly got up and assessed the damage. nothing was broken my eyes just hurt. i got up and rubbed my eyes. took a minute to catch my breath then headed back up the stairs. i finally reached the top and and walked into some kind of giant throne room. i looked over to twilight and the others and they were floating in the air glowing.

across from them was another pony but she was much larger than them almost my height. she was wearing black armour and her mane was kind of freaky. it was like staring into a starry night sky.

the six floating ponies then formed into a single mass of light. i had no idea what was happening all i knew was that there was going to be a flash and a good chance that i might get hurt again. just when i thought things couldn't possible get weirder they did.

the great ball of light grew brighter and shot some kind of giant rainbow beam into the air and down onto the bigger pony. the bigger pony was then engulfed in a tornado of colors and light. there was another bright flash and i was thrown against a wall, just as i predicted. the impact was very hard and i was knocked unconscious.

****i didn't dream but i only stared into an unending void. at the end of the void was a bright light which only grew brighter and brighter. soon i was engulfed in light. i could feel its warmth as it covered me and healed my it stopped and everything was dark again. i could feel myself coming back to reality or so i thought.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Life

i opened my eyes to see that i was still in the same techni colored hell that i fell asleep in. i looked around the room and it was empty. what the fuck they just left me here to rot. they must have thought i was really dead this time. i looked around and noticed a large white pony with multicolored hair flowing from her head and tail. she was about my height. she was wearing a crown and some golden armour. she had a horn AND wings. i have a feeling that doesn't happen very often.

she was looking out the window into the sunset. i started to get up and collect my stuff. i threw my bag over my shoulder and headed for the stairs but before i could get to them i was interrupted.

"where do you plan on going?" i heard behind me.

i looked back and the same pony was staring me right in the face. that was a good question, where the hell am i going to go. well shit.

"I was wondering when i might get the chance to meet you." she said again

i could only stare at her her bright pink eyes radiated into my soul. she was terrifying yet comforting at the same time. and her voice was soft but commanding. she was definitely interested in me too. i don't think there are many humans just walking around here anyway. i looked her over once more and saw she was looking over me too. if i had to guess she was the one and only princess celestia that my daughter freaks out about.

i think i might play some mind tricks with her. im really good at them and i can usually outwit most people because i'm usually fast thinking and quick witted. thats why im spec ops and not some grunt in the army. besides this should be fun.

"well Then princess Celestia what do you want to know?" i said with a witty smile.

"don't try your mind games on me Human they won't work" she said i a gentle voice.

well shit

"Ok then i won't" i said getting serious

i stared at her and she stared back at me. not knowing how this was going to go i reached my hand down to my side arm ready to pull it in case the situation goes haywire.

i guess she noticed because her look became more of a soul shattering glare then a friendly gesture.

i started to rethink my possible outcomes. looking at it my way she is a flying horse that can probably teleport and maybe shoot lasers from her face. and i'm just a guy on the ground with a pistol. maybe i should try being nice. that seems to get these ponies pretty far in their world maybe it will do the same for me.

"i think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot...uh...hoof?" i said pulling my hands away from my pistol. i said hoof questionable not knowing if it was the correct terminology.

"perhaps you're right." she said her menacing gaze turned back into a caring but commanding stare. "it seems you know my name but what is yours?"

"my name is alex." i said and with that she walked over to me. she started to trot around me slowly inspecting me. she looked like she was taking motes.

"hmm interesting. you walk on your hind legs and use your front legs to use various objects and items.

"where i came from we just call them legs and arms."

"hmm interesting." she said. she continued to scout me out. "so tell me how often do your people where clothing.

"uh well All the time except for when we are bathing or...uhm..." i didn't really know how to finish the sentence.

"or for personal relations with a mate."

well shit

"uhmm yeah."

"can you tell me where you came from too."

"well now that is a bit of a story." i said. she openly invited me to tell the story so i did. i told her all about the dream arch and my people. i also told her about our world and how vastly different out two worlds are. the conversation trailed on for about two hours when it ended.

"well it sounds to me that you're stranded here." she said with a llight giggle.

"i guess so."

"well if you wish you may stay in ponyville with the other 6 ponies you had traveled here with."

i took a minute to assess the situation. on one hand i could live in a town filled with food and other ponies or i could be killed out in this forest. the pony town option is sounding pretty good right now.

"but there are two conditions." the princess said in a serious tone

"Which would be."

"first you must abandon all of your worlds possessions to me. i will keep them safe until we figure out a way to get you back home."she said. i thought about that and it didn't sound too bad. when i remembered my necklace. my father had given it to me before he died. i was i gold chain necklace with a diamond cross. it was very important to me and i don't think i could go without it.

"alright i will give you my worldly possessions but i simply ask to keep my necklace." i held it up so she could see.

she stared at the cross for several seconds and finally said "well it seems harmless enough." her saying that gave me a bit of relief.

"alright then what's the other condition?"i asked and she got more serious than before. i could already tell it wasn't going to be good.

"the second condition is a bit extreme but at the same time necessary." she said. "we can't have a creature that doesn't exist in this world prancing around town causing mass confusion. so it would be easier if we turned you into a pony."

that was certainly one hell of a bomb shell. i have no idea what it means to be a pony or how they even work. i don't think i could get used to living like one. what would i eat. what would i wear. do ponies even where clothes. it took me a minute to think all the princess could do was stand and watch me pace around in a circle for a few minutes. i looked down to where i was pacing and there was literally a groove in the floor.

i thought hard and carefully about my decision. i grabbed my fathers necklace and looked at it. he would have wanted me to try and survive as long as i could. i know he wouldn't want me to kill myself like this he would want me to go honorably.

"ok i'm willing to do that."

"great now all thats left is for you to choose your race."

"wait there are different kinds of ponies?"

"well of course."she said. she spent the next half hour or so explaining the the different races of ponies. there were earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, there were also alicorns which is what the princess was. she said she couldn't turn me into an alicorn. something about it being physically impossible and all spells that try to do such a thing only end up horribly disfiguring the subject.

basically it works like rock paper scissors. earth ponies beat pegasi, pegasi beat unicorns, and unicorns beat earth ponies. that's not actually how she said it but thats how i heard it.

"so have you decided yet what you want to be."

"yes i have"

"so what is your choice?"

"i want you to turn me into...a...pegasus."

"so be it"and with that her horn started to glow and shine. i was soon engulfed in a familiar white light and an even more familiar warmth. but that went away and i was in nothing but extreme pain. my bones cracked and crunched and shifted to accommodate my soon to be new body. i felt an intense pain in my back there was a loud rip and i screamed in pain.

i fell to the ground in a pool of my own blood. i was smaller now much smaller. what was done is done and now i have to live with the decision that i have made. i will eventually get used to this body, but for right now i am tired. so i closed my eyes and let the darkness come and embrace me as i fell into a deep sleep.

i drifted off into a dark void and suddenly. i was in my bed i woke up sweating. i looked over to my left to see if linda ,my wife, was still sleeping. she wasn't in fact her side of the bed hadn't even been touched. i got up. i was still in my uniform. i started to get a sort of weird sense deep in my gut.

i walked out of the dark room into the hallway and looked out the window. it was about midday. i walked downstairs and into the living room but she wasn't there. i looked outside and saw her standing near the fence. sarah,my daughter was there too. i walked over to the door and opened it. i walked out into the lawn and called to my wife

"Hey Linda what are you doing" i said

she remained silent. maybe she didn't hear me. so i called out again and walked a bit closer.

"Linda...LINDA...can you hear me...hellooooooooooo!"

yet she remained there standing deathly still. so was sarah. i walked closer and closer but the lawn seemed endless. suddenly i got another strange feeling in my gut. just then the nuke siren went off and my heart sank.

"LINDA get in the House NOW!" i said rushing over to my wife but i could never get to here. "LINDA PLEASE"i shouted once more with all my heart. i kept running and tripping over the lawn. as the siren continued to wail and ring i kept running to my family but with every step i got further and further.

"linda please..." is all that i could say through my exhausted voice. i was so tired to continue. and i dropped to my knees. tears started to stroll down my face. there was a bright flash and suddenly the town was engulfed in flame and transformed into some kind of apocalyptic wasteland. buildings were either destroyed or burning and there were charred bodies thrown across the ground.

linda and sarah remained where they are and just stared off into the bloody sunset. there was another bright flash and an explosion off in the distance. i felt a gust of wind and a massive heat wave.

i needed to get to my family i got up and started walking towards them. i was actually making progress. the heat from the explosion continued to increase and i could feel my blood start to boil. my first layer of skin started to peel and get charred black. i fell back down to my knees. i couldn't continue but i had to i needed to see my family again i just need to see their faces before i die. i started to crawl across the ash covered ground. i could hardly breathe and the pain was intense.

i finally got to the foot of my wife. i grabbed her ankle and looked up. she was perfectly fine no burns, cuts, or bruises. she looked back down at me and so did my daughter. i looked her in her deep blue eyes that had started to tear up. i looked at my daughter who was also crying. i started to sob too. but soon the entire city was engulfed in flame. i laid there. burning. there was no more pain only fire. the only thing i could see my wifes face. suddenly here deep blue eyes turned to an ocean. and i was engulfed with water.

i sank and sank into the water. i let the cool water caress my burns and wounds. it felt nice. i kept sinking and sinking and the water grew colder with every second. as the surface grew further and further away the ocean around me grew dark. i closed my eyes and let my body hit the ocean bed.

the second i hit the floor i sprung back to life and i was in a hospital bed. trying to comprehend what happened would be pretty hard to do so i sat there and scratched my head with my...hoof.

i looked down and saw that i wasn't wrong i indeed had hooves. it suddenly hit me and i remembered everything that had happened. the princess the ponies and the transformation. and if i remember correctly i should have wings. i looked behind my back and saw a pair of wings.

"ahem" i heard over in the corner of the room. standing there was princess celestia. she looked down at me on the small hospital gurney. i looked back up at her "so how are you enjoying the new look"

"it's a bit uncomfortable" i said stretching out my legs.i gave a big yawn and stretched again.

"how long was I out."

"about two months"

"WHAT!"

"oh yeah you missed out on a wonderful summer"

"how was i sleeping for two months?!"

"oh you weren't sleeping."

"what?"

"after the spell was finished you slipped into a coma for 2 months."

"oh my god."

"it actually could have been worse. you could have been comatosed for years."

this was allot to take in. how could i have been out for 2 months. oh god what about my family. i didn't know what to do so i sat there and stared at the ceiling. i'm not sure how long it has been but it was long enough to let the news set in. finally celestia broke the silence.

"well there's still one matter that we haven't discussed yet."

"which is..." i asked raising an eyebrow.

"you still need a new name" she said smiling down on me. she was right alex wasn't going to cut it as a normal name in this world. especially for a pony like me. so i decided to check out my new appearance for idea's. i got up and stumbled my way over to the mirror. i looked at myself. i had bright hazel eyes just like my old ones.

my hair was the same dark black except it was the same color but with dark blue stripes riding around it. reminded me of the night time. my primary coat was an amber red. i looked at myself further and saw that there was a picture of a cross with wings on both sides of my ass.

"uhm excuse me princess but that is this." i said gesturing to the picture on my ass

"oh that would be your cutie mark. and a very interesting one at that." she said walking over and examining it.

i didn't pay much attention to it. i stared at myself in the mirror. i don't know why but i stared intensely. i knew i was different but i felt the same. i looked down and saw i was wearing my fathers necklace. it then hit me. i decided to rename my self in honor of my father. i was going to rename my self crimson dawn. if you're wondering why crimson dawn was the fighter my dad had been killed in while fighting the rebels

"Crimson Blaze." i said still looking into the mirror.

"excuse me" the princess said looking up.

"thats my new name." i said.

"if that is what you wish then so be it." she said giving me a warm smile. "but for now you should get some sleep." she said i don't know why but she was right. i was strangely tired. i tried to walk over to my bed but i just tripped over my own hooves and fell to the ground. i squirmed a bit trying to figure out how to get up. but the only progress i made was in making the princess laugh. her horn glowed a bright yellow and i was soon floating in the air. i freaked out for a second but relaxed when i realised i was being picked up by the princess. she gently floated me into my bed and pulled the covers over me.

i looked over the the side of the room and saw that my bag was sitting over there in the corner. i was confused i thought for certain the princess had taken my things.

"uhm princess what are my bags doing here."

"oh yes i almost forgot." she said levitating the bag to the side of the bed. i sat up and she set it down.

"it was my original intention to take all of your belongings but i thought it would be easier on you if i only took what was dangerous. so i went through the bag and took away anything that i thought was a weapon. by the way you have a lot of interesting things in there." she said giving me a slight wink and setting the bag over in the corner again."and also i left a few bits in there so you could buy some food until you get a job."

i thanked the princess and she left. before she left she looked back and gave me a little smirk. i layed back down and started to drift off into another nap. i was hoping that i wasn't going to have another horrible nightmare. luckily i didn't i woke up a few times but fell right back to bed.

i woke up the next morning to the sound of familiar voices. i slowly opened my eyes to a cascade of different colors. when they finally opened the six ponies that found me in the forest where once again standing over my head. pinkie pie's face was especially close to mine. i noticed that she was staring intently at me with a smile that looked like it cut her face in half. i was a bit awkward.

"for celestia's sake pinkie let the guy breathe." rainbow dash said pulling her curly haired friend out of my face.

"hello alex?" twilight said. "or is it crimson dawn now." she said giggling.

i was about to say hello back but i got a sudden migraine and my head started to kill.

"ugh my head is killing me" i said rubbing my head with my hoof. "do any of you have some aspirin."

"we ain't got no aspirin. but ah got a home made painkiller." said applejack pulling a bottle out of her bag.

"what's that"i asked.

"this heres whiskey." she said. the second i heard whiskey my eyes lit up. i grabbed the bottle from her hand somehow. and popped the top.

"oh thank god" i said as i gave the bottle a swig.

"who's god he sounds like fun CAN WE MEET HIM."

"that would be rather difficult."

"why is that." said twilight sparkle.

"thats a bit of a complicated question." i didn't really feel like explaining my religion to twilight then i remembered i kept my mother's bible in my bag. "twilight can you grab my bag for me over in the corner.

"sure" she said using her magic to levitate the bag over to the bed. she placed in down next to me and i unhooked the straps. i started to rummage through it and found what i was looking for.

"this is what my people call the holy bible." i said holding up the book but before i could explain pinkie bursted into the conversation.

"but this book doesn't have holes in it" she said looking at the book

"i ment holy as in that it's sacred." i said i looked over to twilight and she was eyeing the book and her face was glowing. "this book explains everything about my religion. but i warn you this book isn't some kind of fairytale you read to kids." twilight went to grab the book but i pulled it away.

"i know you want this book. but first you have to do something for me." i said. twilight shied away a bit and took her eyes off of the book and onto me. "first i want to learn about your people too."

"alright" twilight said.

"and...i need you to tell me where to get something to eat." i said back with a smile

"i can do that." said pinkie pie. she reached her head into her saddle bag and pulled out a blanket. the blanket unfolded and it had shit tons of sweets like pies, cakes muffins and other sugary things.

"jesus christ, i asked for something to eat not a one way ticket to obesity." i said looking down at the food.

"now who's this jesus fellah you just mentioned."

"you really need to read this book." i said finally handing it to twilight "jesus is basically the son of god. he was also known as the messiah. he led his life performing miracles and he died for our why i wear this." i said pointing to the cross i wore around my neck.

"very interesting. well i can't wait to read this when i get home"

"oh my gosh that necklace is beautiful." said rarity. "you simply must let me use the design in my next wardrobe."

"maybe later." i was getting bored and i needed to adjust to my new body. you know break it in. i got up and grabbed my bag.

"oh and by the way i made you this." rarity said pulling out a folded up saddle bag out of her own. she unfolded it and levitated all of my belongings into it. i looked at it and saw there was a ruby cross on it. i stared at the cross with a disappointed look and then back at her.

"is this the only thing with a cross on it."

"uhm yes...hehehe" she said giving an awkward smile and shying away.

"lets keep it that way." and without hesitation i threw my bag across my back. "oh wait one second." i said going over to my other bag. i picked it up and check my secret pouch that i kept on it. i unhooked the stings and opened it up. and thankfully the princess hadn't found it. inside was a swiss combat knife and a lighter. you know for emergencies.

i put the items in my bag and headed for the door.

"hey where are you going" rainbow dash asked.

"i don't i was going to walk around town for a while maybe find a place to stay like an apartment or something.

"you meen the princess didn't give you a place to stay."

"nope all she did was give me some money." with that i looked into my saddle bag and grabbed the pouch of small gold coins. "uhm how much does an apple cost in this world."

"an apple is one bit." said applejack. so through deductive reasoning and a bit of math i figured that one bit is equal to about a dollar. so the princess left me about $500 dollars.

"hey we should have a sleepover." pinkie pie blurted out.

"yeah we can have it at my house." twilight said.

"well that sounds like a marvellous idea." said rarity.

"yeah and we can get to know you better." said twilight.

well i guess i'm going to a sleepover later. we all said our goodbyes and i headed off into town. and come to think of it i never ate any of the food that pinkie pie had laid out in front of me and i was still hungry. so i decided that maybe there is some food vendors around. i walked down the dirt path from the hospital. i took me a minute to figure out how to walk properly but watching some of the other ponies walk around i quickly figured it out.

i kept walking and soon i was surrounded by houses and stores but none of them were selling food. i kept walking for about an hour and my feet or hooves started to get sore. i spotted a nice shady tree on a hill. i walked over to it and sat down and leaned against the stump. i was a great view of the town.

i didn't know what to do now what was i supposed to do just sit here and wait for the princess to fix all my problems. was this it. is this my new life now. i'm not one to judge but i knew this world was very different from my own and it would take time to adapt.

so i sat there and thought and thought. i looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was right above me so it was about noon. i had completely forgot that i haven't eaten since i was in a comma or even since i got here. good thing i was hooked up to an I.V. in the hospital.

as i continued to wonder how i would carry on there was a great pain in my stomach. i clutched my gut and fell to the ground. the pain was unbearable. it was probably the lack of food. but this was intense. i started to moan and howl in pain but i couldn't make much noise. i eventually collapsed under the tree and fell to sleep.

****at least now there's no more pain.


	3. Chapter 3: sleeping over

i woke up to the sound of a familiar voice. when i opened my eyes i saw the pink pony inches away from my face that had woken me up. i got up and stretched.

"hey pinkie" i said

"hey...watcha doin..."

"nothing just resting."

"well you better hurry up or you'll miss the sleepover." that can't be right. i looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was setting. "come on follow me." she said. completely forgetting the address twilight had given me earlier i decided to follow her.

we started to walk down a few streets or should i say that i walked and she just kinda...bounced...like a rubber ball. it was pretty funny but i didn't want to laugh at her. the entire trip she was bombarding me with questions all of which i could not answer because she interrupted me with more questions.

"how do you like 't it nice.i like it.i also like you like parties.i love 's my special tallent. what's your special talent."

"pinkie please.." i said befor i was interrupted again.

"hey we're here." she said. i looked up at the house. but it wasn't a house it was a tree with a door. she opened the door and we walked inside. the entire tree was hollowed out and there were bookshelves stuffed with books all over the entire house. i looked over and four other ponies. twilight, rarity, applejack,and fluttershy.

"hello please come in." said twilight. we walked in and were greeted by everybody. i sat down and realized that i still haven't eaten yet. my stomach rumbled and it was very audible. everybody heard it.

"have you eaten at all today" rarity said.

"well no. infact i don't think i ever ate anything since i came to this world."

"here eat this." said pinkie pie pushing an apple pie and a bottle of cider. she gave everybody else food including herself. i was going to question why she gave me apple pie but then i remembered that i didn't care. so i dived in and ate my entire meal. it was the best damn apple pie i have ever had.

"hey where is rainbow dash?" pinkie pie said.

"oh yes rainbow dash had another party that she was going to but she told me that she will come over later."

"she's probably at that atrocious club again" said rarity. the conversation stopped and we continued eating. after the food twilight suggested that we should do make overs. like hell i'm doing a make over.

"twilight"

"yes blast...oh yeah" she figured it out. "uh maybe we shouldn't do make overs."

"thats probably a good idea."

"ah know. we should play truth or dare."

"alright i love truth or dare." exclaimed pinkie. i have a bad feeling about this.

"alright i'll go first." said applejack. "now lets see" it felt like she was going to take forever to pick but she finally made her decision. "pinkie pie. truth or dare."

" .DARE"

"alright calm down." said applejack. she pondered a moment "i dare you to go the next hour without eating any of the food." pinkies eyes widened and she looked nervous.

"alrighty then i can do that." she said. something told me this was going to end up killing her on the inside. "alright my turn." it didn't take her long to choose somebody. "crimson dawn" she said

CRAP

"Truth or dare."

"Dare." i said without thinking.

"i dare you...to chug 5 bottles of root beer."

"thats easy"

"then do it." she said as she handed me 5 open bottles of root beer. 3 bottle of root beer later my stomach was killing me. maybe it wasn't so easy. i felt my stomach rumble and let out a huge belch which let out some room for me to finish of the fourth bottle and start on the second. by the time i had finished the fifth bottle my stomach was killing me.

"okay now its my turn." i said. these girls were pretty harsh so i thought i should step it up. "twilight truth or dare."

"Dare." she said with determination.

"i dare you..." before i finished i looked around the room at all the bookshelves. from what i can tell she loves to read. this is gonna be good. "...i dare you to rip a page out of one of these books."

the room went silent. then there was a gasp. it was pinkie.

"twilight can you really do that."

"it'll be fine pinkie." she said. she walked over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a book at random. she was sweating. i sat there and watched with a malicious smile across my face. she flipped open the book and used her magic to pull on one of the pages. it finally tore out with a loud rip. she then smiled and laughed.

"do you really think that i haven't damaged my books before." and with that her horn glowed and the page was put back in the book and reattached. very smart. i like that. "ok now my turn" she looked back at me with an evil glare. this isn't going to be good.

"fluttershy...truth or dare."

"uhm...dare...please" she said in a squeamish voice.

"i dare you to spend 30 minutes in the closet with crimson blast." she said giving me another glare. clever girl very very clever. before i knew it twilight's magic had picked up me and fluttershy and dumped us in the closet across the room. the door closed and we were alone.

it was dark. very dark. i couldn't even see my hooves in front of my face. i couldn't even see fluttershy but i remembered twilight had put my bag in here. as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness i spotted my bag sitting right next to me. i reached in one of the pouches and rummaged around for my flashlight but it wasn't there. i checked the other one i slowly digged around until i felt it.

i pulled out my flashlight and turned it on. it lit up the whole closet which was actually rather big. i looked over in the corner and saw fluttershy cowering in the corner.

"fluttershy what's wrong?" i asked.

"im...im...afraid of the d-dark" she said. she was shaking a bit.

"it's ok fluttershy. see i have my flashlight there's no more darkness" she looked up and started to get more comfortable. she slowly inched her way out of the. she didn't look up at me though. she kept her eyes on the ground.

she was very shy. this must be like hell to her being trapped in a dark closet with somebody she doesn't even know. i reached back into my bag and searched for anything else that might be useful. i finally picked up my cross out of my bag and held it close to my heart.

this cross was my wifes it's the only thing i had to remember her by. i sat down and leaned against the wall and started to pray silently in my head. i looked over and saw fluttershy was staring at me. she must have thought i was being weird. i don't think ponies have a god that they pray to. even then can my god hear me from this world.

"what are you doing." she asked looking at the cross.

"i'm praying." i said.

"what's that."

"praying is when people talk to god and ask him for help or advice." i ended the prayer and said amen. just then the batteries on flashlight died and the room was filled with darkness again. fluttershy shrieked and flew right into me. she grasped me tightly and didn't let go.

i put a hoof around her to comfort her. and she laid her dead onto my chest. she was breathing heavily probably because she was scared. a few minutes passed and she started to calm down. i even think she went to sleep. my eyes started to get a bit heavy too but i needed to stay awake. i looked into my bag again with my one free hoof. i dug around and found some energy gum i had packed to keep me awake should we do night ops. i opened the pack took out a piece and started to chew it. i started to wake up.

i'm not sure how long it has been but it couldn't be more than 20 minutes now. i put my ear against the door. to see if i could hear anything from the other side. i could hear whispers and they sounded close but i couldn't make out who it was or what they were saying.

i slammed my hoof on the door and made a loud knocking sound. i could hear a yelp from the other side and some footsteps moving away from the door. i guess somebody was spying on us. i smiled at my small victory and looked back down to fluttershy who was yawning. the knock must have woken her up.

her eyes opened up and they looked up at me. i looked back down at her and rubbed her head. she nuzzled her face into my chest and closed her eyes with a smile. she was soft and warm. she was rather comforting to be around. i don't know why but i started to relax and almost fell asleep my self.

but there was a knock on the door and i heard. twilight's voice. "alright you two times up". and with that the door swung open and i was blinded by the light. i opened my eyes and saw the other four ponies staring at us.

"well don't you two look cute." twilight said.

fluttershy blushed and gently lifted herself off of my chest and floated away. i got up myself and put my stuff back in my bag. i would be blushing too but it wouldn't show up on my coat

"hey i didn't say you could use your bag." complained twilight.

"you didn't say i couldn't. besides this was fluttershy's dare not mine. you're rules don't apply to me."

"well played" she said .

"you're not the only smart one around here." i said with a smile. and with that i took my place back in the circle. the game of truth or dare continued on for a while until everybody got bored. then we decided to make smores. they were pretty good s'mores and i was still very hungry. i must have eaten like six or seven of them.

when the s'mores were over we decided to have a pillow fight. not a good idea. at some point in the pillow fight my warrior instincts kicked in and i was unstoppable. i eventually ruined the game and rarity's hair too. i apologized and we picked up the mess.

it was about almost midnight and we heard a knock on the door. but before anybody could answer it the door swung open revealing a very drunk rainbow dash.

her hair was messy and unkempt. she was blushing and drooling a bit. she had a half empty bottle in one hoof and took a swig finishing it off. she threw the bottle behind her and it smashed against the dirt road. she stepped in and kicked the door closed.

"HEEY guys. what's up. she said almost tripping over her front hooves. she had some cuts and bruises. my guess is that she tried flying over here drunk and probably crashed.

"damnit rainbow dash. are ya'll drunk again?"

she giggled a bit before she answered the question. "maybe" then she burst out in a fit of laughter. i didn't really like where this was going. she stumbled over to fluttershy and put her arm over her and whispered something in her ear.

this only made fluttershy blush and run away into the kitchen. then rainbow dash started to laugh again.

"that girl is crazy." she said still laughing.

"damit dash what the hell did you say to her." said twilight.

"i didn't say anything." dash said acting as if she actually didn't say anything. rarity and pinkie pie ran into the kitchen to try and comfort fluttershy. soon only rainbow dash, applejack, twilight and i were left. rainbow's eyes looked over and caught mine.

she stumbled over and put her hoof around my neck.

"hey there big guy...how about you and me go and have some fun."

she brought her lips closer to my face to try and kiss me but i turned my head away from her. but that didn't stop her from trying to have a good time.

"Quit it dash." i said

"yeah dash stop it" said twilight.

"cmon. i'm just having some fun." she said. she reached down and started to rub her hoof against my manhood. i didn't notice her moving her hoof down but when it made contact i shivered and moved back.

"I'm warning you now stop it."

"c'mon just relax." she said

"STOP IT NOW." i yelled. and with that i brought my head down over hears and headbutt her right in the face. she stumbled back and collapsed into a nearby table and fell to the ground. she then passed out and fell to sleep. her nose started to bleed. it must have broke when i hit her. i felt terrible about hitting her but she was going too far.

i walked over to the closet and grabbed my bag just as pinkie and rarity came out of the kitchen with fluttershy to see what had happened. twilight and applejack were silent. i picked up my stuff and threw it over my back.

"i think it's best that i go." i said heading for the door.

"no wait." i heard twilight, but thats all i heard before i shut the door and bolted off in a random direction. i walked all around town. it was dark and everybody was asleep. so the chances of me finding a new place to stay were very small. i ended up walking for a while but i had grown very tired. it was a bit past midnight and i was exhausted.

i eventually stumbled across the tree i was napping under before the sleepover. i walked up the hill and set my stuff down next to me. and sat down under the tree. i laid down and finally rested my eyes. the cool night breeze running through my fur felt amazing.

i started to drift to sleep when. something next to me. i looked over and saw fluttershy standing above me. she laid down next to me and rested her head against my chest. she was still warm and soft.

i reached a hoof and started to rub her head. she brought her face close to mine and our lips locked. i was hesitant at first but she was so warm and soft i gave in and kissed back.

the kiss lasted for a few minutes before she reached down and started to gently rub my penis. i shivered a bit because i still wasn't open to the idea. after about a minute i was rock hard and ready to go.

she broke the kiss and brought her head down to my throbbing member. she slowly started to stroke my dick with her tongue and it felt amazing. she brought her lips to the tip of my member and slowly brought her head down.

she began sucking and was contempt on pleasuring me but i was having second thoughts about if this was going to go any further. after all i'm still married no matter what dimension i'm in.

she came up and then back down. all the way down. i couldn't hold it in much longer, i was about to burst.

"uhgg, fluttershy... mmmm fuck yeah"

i put my hoof on her head and pushed her down, and burst. i released my torrent of cum down her throat. at the same time i released my grip. she swallowed and brought her head up. and brought it closer to mine. i grabbed an old shirt from my bag and whipped the residue off of her face.

"thank you" she said and with that she leaned in and planted one more kiss. so there i was under a tree making out with a pony that just sucked my dick.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME. eventually we stopped making out and she rested her head against my chest and fell to sleep. i closed my eyes and started to think about how my life was falling to hell.

****i know i should be trying to fit in and have fun according to the princess. but i have an overwhelming sense that something is wrong. i eventually drifted off into sleep. i had a feeling everything was going to change. for better or for worse.


	4. Chapter 4: Settling in

the next morning i woke up and opened my eyes to notice the sun was just coming up. i looked down and fluttershy was still resting. i didn't want to wake her up so i just looked up and admired the view. after about an hour or so i felt a rustling beneath be. i looked down and saw fluttershy yawning and stretching her legs.

she opened her eyes and looked up at me, but almost immediately looked away. she was regretting what we did last. i could tell by the shame in her eyes. i reached down and rubbed her head to try and comfort her but i don't think it worked.

"fluttershy...are you alright." i said. she just laid there "c'mon fluttershy talk to me."

"don't worry...i'm...fine." she said she sat up spread her wings and flew away. she was obviously upset. watching her fly away reminded me that i have yet to learn how to use my own wings. i almost forgot i had them to. i stretched my wings out on both sides. how hard can it be.

i started to flap my wings and got a good foot off the ground. i flapped a bit harder and continued to rise. alright now that i'm in the air it's time to go forward. so i leaned forwards and flapped my wings harder and eventually i was moving through the air. it was like swimming it had the same dynamics just a bit more effort and much more dangerous.

i wasn't moving fast though. so i started to flap harder and harder and picked up speed. when i got to a good pace i quickly lost balance and plummeted 5 feet to the ground. that really hurt. i got up and assessed the damage. i don't think i was broken. i looked back to my wings. or at least i thought. i must have landed on my left wing because it was limp and bleeding.

i walked over to my bag and took out some bandages. i laid on my right side and set my wing back into place at my side. i switched sides and finish the bandage. they were long enough to cover the one broken ing and i managed i keep my working wing exposed.

thats probably enough flight practice for a week. i picked up my bag and tossed it over my back. as soon as the bags hit my sides and my wing it hurt like hell. i threw the bag off onto the ground. i looked back and there were already blood stains leaking through the bandages. i opened up one of the bags to see if there was anything that i could use. i noticed there was a bottle of painkillers. attached to the bottle was a note from the princess

"here you might need these. flying is rather difficult the first time around."

that made me laugh, but i was also afraid of how smart the princess might actually be. but nonetheless i had these and i will probably pull through till i get to the hospital. i popped the top and downed 3 painkillers. i put the bottle back in my bag and threw the bag across my back without even thinking. before i could react the bag had hit both of my wings. but there was no pain. damn those must be good painkillers. maybe i shouldn't have just downed 3 of those.

i started to walk away from the tree and my stomach growled. well i guess it's time for breakfast. i reached the bottom of the hill and onto the main road. or at least A road. i still had no idea where i could get something to eat. i walked down the road for a while when i came across an apple cart. finally some food. i looked all around me and i appeared to have entered the shopping district. there were stores with signs and stalls everywhere. but i think an apple is good enough.

i approached the stand and rang the bell. suddenly applejack walked over with a sack of apples and set them down. she looked up and her face lighted up when she saw me.

"well howdy there...sleep well." she said giving me an innocent smile. she was mocking me.

"like a baby." i said exchanging the same innocent smile. she looked over at my blood stained bandages. she immediately lost her smile.

"dammit can't ya go a single day without killin' yerself" she said. she looked very disappointed. "what the hell did ya'll do this time."

"oh nothing just some morning flight training." she looked back at me. she was still disappointed. "now on a lighter side. i would like 2 apples please."

"alrighty then." she said perking right back up. i reached into my bag and picked up 2 bits and put them on the counter and grabbed the apples and put one in my bag while i munched on the other core and all.

"ya'll be careful now" she said as i walked away from the stall. my mouth was full so all i did was just wave behind me. i continued to walk down the main road. i reached into my bag and grabbed the second apple i ate the whole thing at once. one i removed my head from my bag i noticed a certain white mare inches from my face.

by the time i had noticed her i had already bumped into her.

"oof, hey watch where you're going." she said dusting herself off. "oh it's you. i've been..." she paused and looked at my back. "are you alright."

" yeah i'm fine. what do you need?"

"well it's not what i need." she said looking aimlessly at the sky. "you see rainbow dash has been looking for you."

"tell her to fuck off". and i turned around and started walking but rarity ran in front of me and cut me off.

"please talk to her...she's really sorry about what happened last night. it wasn't her fault, she just had a little too much to drink. and besides you did headbutt her in the face and broke her snout." i couldn't believe what i was hearing.

"are you kidding me...she practically raped me! if she was a man in my world i would have killed her." i said staring down at rarity.

"please just talk to her." i was very angry at rainbow dash, but i haven't been one to hold a grudge. and after all i have had my share of drunken mistakes too. but that doesn't completely dismiss the problem.

"Fine i'll talk to her. but not now, i have stuff to do."

"alright then but please talk to her soon." i didn't respond because i didn't feel like dragging on the conversation. so we went our separate ways. what i said before was a complete lie i didn't have stuff to do. i just didn't want to face that problem just yet.

so what to do now. i guess i should look for a job and a place to sleep. can't keep sitting under that tree all the time. i'm not sure how much rent costs here so i should probably check that out first.

it took me about 20 minutes of wandering to realize i had no idea what the fuck i'm doing. where am i supposed to find an apartment. who do i talk to about that. can i afford it. maybe there's a local paper. thats it there must be some kind of local newspaper.

i walked another 10 minutes before i came across a general store. i walked inside and went up to the counter.

"can i get todays paper."

"yeah sure" the cashier said hu duct behind the counter and came back up with a newspaper in his mouth. he let the paper go and it dropped onto the counter. "that'll be three bits.". i reached into my bag and pulled out 3 bits and left them on the counter and grabbed the newspaper. before i turned away the cashier stopped me dead in my tracks.

"hey kid are you alright" god damnit thats the third time in like 2 hours

"yeah don't worry about it." i said. i left the store and found a nice bench. i sat down to a mint green unicorn and opened the paper.

"excuse me sir but i'm saving this seat for my friend, she's going to be here soon." i looked over to the unicorn sitting next to me.

"oh sorry" i said. i got up and folded the paper up and carried onto the next bench. i sat down and opened up the paper. i quickly jumped to the listings section. there's an apartment on 24 oak street. and the rent is only 50 bits a month. that sounds pretty cheap but i should check it out anyway. I hopped off the bench and folded up the paper and put it in my bag. Now the only thing left to do is figure out where the fuck i am going.

I walked down the road for about ten minutes and eventually found myself next to applejack's apple cart again. Dammit I've been walking around in circles.

"howdy there come back for more apples?" Said applejack waving at me from her cart.

"Actually no can you tell me where Oak street is."

"Well It's right over there." She said pointing to a sign that said Oak street on it. well would you look at that. "You sure you don't want nothin."

"hmm...actually. I'll take a bottle of apple cider.

"Alrighty sugarcube" she said putting a bottle of cider on the counter "that'll be 2 bits." I put the bits on the counter and grabbed the drink. i took a swig and completely finished the bottle off. I tossed it into a trash bin and waved bye to applejack.

I continued down the road and took a right onto Oak street. lets see here,18,20,22, there we are 24 Oak street. It was a duplex. I looked around the neighborhood. There were small little ponies (probably kids) playing out in their front yards. there was an elderly mare sitting out on her porch.

This was an incredibly generic neighborhood, but it was peaceful and cheap so i wasn't complaining. i walked up to the door and knocked on it. the door swung open and revealed a cream colored mare with pink and red hair.

"hello there i'm here for the apartment."

"oh that's wonderful, here let me show you the house." she walked over to the other side of the duplex and unlocked the door. "now i can provide you with the basic necessities such as,kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom appliances. but you're on you're own for the rest."

She showed me around the house and it looked great. it had a modern kitchen, a working bathroom, and a gorgeous bedroom with a wardrobe, a dresser, and a king sized bed, and at fifty bits a month oh hell yeah. of course i'm still going to have to look for a job.

"now if you're interested i have a living room set that i was going to pawn off but you can have it for 40 bits."

"alright deal." i said. so i paid her for the first month and for the living room set too. i spent the next hour or so lugging furniture into the living room and setting it up. there was a three person couch and a leather recliner. it also came with a coffee table too. after all the redecorating i stood back and took it in. ahh i love the smell of new house in the afternoon. smells like home ownership.

when all that business was done i went over to thank the other mare again for the house. I walked over to the other side of the duplex and knocked on the door. it swung open. she walked out and i had noticed something. when she walked out she was wearing a necklace. i looked down further and noticed it had a cross on it. the only difference in it was that it was made of emerald.

"excuse me i was just wondering who made that cross for you."

"oh rarity did, she started a new line she called...uh faith something."

"do you know where i can find this rarity."

"yeah she has a shop called the carousel boutique."she said pointing to a rather fancy looking house right down the street.

"thank you, and thank you again for the house."

"no problem. take care now, and don't hurt yourself again." she said staring at my bandages. i just smiled back as she stepped back into her house. i was calm cool and collective on the outside. but i was furious on the inside.

i bolted my way over to the boutique and almost rammed the door down but knocking is a better way.

"RARITY I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE." i shouted furiously. the door creaked open revealing a very worried rarity.

"oh it's you..." she said timidly."what brings you to the neighborhood."

"i live in the neighborhood now." i said with an evil glare.

"well con-"

"don't congratulate me." i said cutting her off. she just shyed away as i stepped into the boutique. "you told me you wouldn't turn my faith into a fashion show"

"i know but it's just that it makes a good design...and...and...please don't be mad at me."

"i'm not mad rarity. i couldn't be." she seemed relieved but i wasn't done yet. "i'm not mad but i am very VERY disappointed.

her relief vanished and her head sulked to the ground. i knew that she was sorry but she didn't want to admit it. with that scene out of the way i left the store and closed the door behind me.

i walked down the road and quietly thought to myself. i didn't feel right about yelling at rarity like that, but what's done is done. i walked up to my newly purchased apartment and noticed that there were a bunch of stacked presents on the doorstep. There was a note that said Welcome to the neighborhood. i opened the door and pushed all the presents inside.

this neighborhood is much nicer than my own. when i first moved in on earth the only thing i got was a pie from my creepy neighbor who ended up stabbing her husband 5 weeks later.

well i probably should get to these present. i picked one up and read the note. it was from my next door neighbor. i opened it up and it was a bunch of candles. i looked around my house and noticed there were no candles and this world doesn't have electricity or light bulbs. i should probably keep these.

it was already getting a bit dark. i took out one of the candles and placed it on the coffee table. i lit the candle and the entire room was glowing. these are pretty effective candles. i went to the next present. and the next. in the end i ended up with a bunch of bathroom accessories, some food and kitchen utensils, a clock and calendar, and a bunch of other necessities.

after a while of setting up my house and putting candles in every room it started to feel just like home. i had some of the pound cake that was given to me and i put it in the fridge. suddenly i realised i have a kitchen with a gas powered oven and a fridge. but no lights. whatever.

it was late at night and i was just about to climb into bed when i heard a knock at the door. i walked downstairs and trotted over to the door. i wonder who it could be at this time. i reached for the door and opened it up. it was rainbow dash.

"What do you want, and how do you know where i live?" i said with a grim expression on my face.

"well i was flying overhead earlier today and i saw you talking to that other mare and shaking hands. plus i asked around the neighborhood." she had some medical tape over her snout i guess i really did break it. "anyway i know you're probably pissed off at me and i just wanted to you know...apologize."

"then why don't you."

"i just did."

"no. all you did was tell me you wanted to apologize. i have yet to hear the words 'i'm sorry' spill out of your broken muzzle." i could tell by the shame in her eyes that she was genuinely sorry, but i still needed to hear it from her.

"i'm...i'm..." i could see tears welling up in her face. "I'M SO, SO SORRY" she said. she had thrown herself onto me and we fell to the ground and she started crying and sobbing. she really was sorry.

all i did was hug her and let her tears stain my coat. i kicked the door closed and sat up against the back of the couch. her crying had died down but she still had tears rolling down her face.

"i'm sorry i did all those things to you...it's...just that sometimes i get drunk...and do really dumb stuff."

"it's ok i forgive you." i said. and i meant it. it really wasn't her fault. everybody does stupid things when they're drunk. even me. i remember one time i downed a bottle of vodka and started a huge bar fight. the whole bar was burned to the ground and 3 people had died. luckily i wasn't the one who burned the bar and killed 3 people. but i ended up in jail for 2 months. not my proudest memory.

"wait a minute." dash said picking her head up she looked at my bandages which were soaked with her tears. " oh crap, did i do that last night."

"no, no it wasn't you. i had a flying accident."

"well you need to be more careful alright."

"let me see it." she said and took the liberty of undoing my bandages. it didn't hurt anymore i'm not sure if i was still on the painkillers or it healed. she took off the bandages and threw them to the side. she grabbed my wind and pulled it out so she could get a better view.

"this is nothing." she said "you just strained it. keep off of it tomorrow and you should be fine the next day." she said checking out my wing. " and this cut here is pretty deep but it shouldn't be a problem."

"heh thanks." i said. i relaxed and stayed against the couch.

"well i should probably get back home."

"do you want me to come with you."

"thats not a good idea, see you can't fly right now and the streets are dangerous at night, i'll be fine."

"alright and don't be a stranger. tell the others there free to visit."

"okay good night crimson"

"night rainbow." i waved goodbye as she took off and disappeared into the night sky. i closed the door and headed upstairs. i climbed into bed and laid my head on the pillow. i think tomorrow i should try and look for a job.

****as i closed my eyes to go to sleep i had a feeling everything was going to get better. but i still worry about my family. i wondered if i would ever get back to them. i hope i do. i miss them. funny in the dark it feels like i'm actually at home in my own bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Sincere apologies

i woke up early in the morning and started my day like i normally do. i went to the bathroom and took a shower. come to think of it this is the first time i have bathed since i got here. before i got into the shower i lifted up my arm and sniffed my pits. oh god why didn't anybody tell me i wreaked. i stepped into the shower and washed my body and my hair. twice. i also washed my tail which was interesting. most of the time i forget it's there.

i stepped out of the shower and dried off. i went downstairs and made myself breakfast. i made pancakes with some of the stuff the neighbors left on my doorstep. which reminds me before i do anything today i need to thank all of them. it would be the neighborly thing to do.

i finished breakfast and went outside. i picked up the morning paper and tossed it inside. i'll probably read it later. i stepped outside and started to make my way to other peoples houses and thanking them for the presents. apparently not everybody left me a gift and i ended up looking like an asshole in front of like six ponies. but the rest of them were very happy to see me.

with that out of the way i went into the town to look for work. about 10 minutes into town it suddenly hit me that i could have just checked the wanted section of the paper that i decided i would read later.

i ended up wandering all around town until i found myself in a really shady part of town. the houses were in horrible condition and there were shady ponies everywhere. i started to pick up the pace and get out of there fast.

everything was going well until i was stopped by a stallion in a black hoodie. i couldn't see his face but i knew what he wanted. my guess was that he is going to mug me and that he probably has a knife on him somewhere. at least in this world i don't have to worry about someone pulling a gun on me.

"you lost there buddy." the shady stallion said

"don't talk to me."

"thats a nice necklace you should let me wear it." as he said that he pulled out a small switchblade. told you.

"the only thing that should be around your neck is a piece of rope tied to a tree." i said.

"why you little asshole." he swung the knife and it cut me across the face i yelped in pain. i turned around and bucked him right in the face. i felt something break under my hoof and he stumbled back and dropped the knife. i lunged forward and kicked the knife away.

"son of a bitch." he said clutching his snout. i walked over and bucked him again in the stomach and he threw up all over the ground. i looked around me and saw other ponies staring at me from the alleyways. i should probably get out of this place and fast.

i made a run for it and one of the other ponies started to sprint after me. he had a knife in his mouth. i made sharp turns and rounded corners but he was still chasing me. he started to catch up to me and was about a foot away. so i decided to pull a cop-stop.

i planted my front hooves into the dirt and stopped almost immediately. then i stuck out my back hooves. and bucked him HARD in the chest. with my kick combined with the speed he was running with i felt his ribs crack and break. he fell to the ground and hollard in pain.

i quickly picked up the pace and was out of that terrible neighborhood. i quickly fled back to my house. on my way allot of people stopped me to see if i was ok. i didn't want to be a jackass so i told them i was and kept going. i soon found out i was completely lost. i kept walking around and eventually found the library.

hmm maybe twilight can help me. so i walked up the cobblestone path and stepped on a piece of glass. i lifted up my hoof and picked it out with my teeth and spit it back onto the ground. it must have been from dashes beer bottle 2 nights ago. i stepped up to the doorway and knocked.

the door swung open revealing a small purple dragon with green spikes. that was new and interesting. i looked down at him and he looked back up at me.

"twilight somepony's here to see you, he looks hurt." the purple dragon walked away and twilight soon appeared in the doorway.

"oh my gosh are you alright, what happened."

"some ponies tried to mug me"

"what did they take."

"well the first guy was after my necklace but i bucked him in the face and he collapsed." i said

"what do you mean the first guy."

"well there were two. the second one chased after me after i beat up the first guy and well lets just say i outran him."

"c'mon lets fix you up." twilight said signaling me to come inside. i walked in and she went into a different room. i stopped in front of a mirror to see how i looked. I didn't look too bad until i saw my face. there was a huge gash running across it. this is definitely going to leave a nice scar.

"now this spell should fix you up but it will leave a nasty scar." twilight said as she reentered the room. she was levitating a book next to her called, basic healing, i sat down and she brought her horn to my face and it started to glow. there was a bright flash and she was done.

"is that it."

"that's it, what were you expecting fireworks."

"something like that." is said. she giggled a bit and pulled a mirror over so i could see. i looked in the mirror and she was right it did leave a nasty scar. i did have to admit though it looked cool. "there now you look like a badass."

"sweet, well i better get going i have to find a job."

"here take this..." she said tossing a roll of paper over to me. i unrolled it and saw that it was a map. "try not to get lost again."

"i'll try" i said waving goodbye. i closed the door and headed out. i used the map to find my way home. i opened the door and stepped inside. i picked up the paper i had tossed on the ground. i jumped onto the recliner and sat back. i pulled open the paper and skipped to the wanted section.

lets see here. help needed at the bakery. hmm maybe. lets keep looking. hey look applejack is looking for a farm...uh... . i didn't know she worked on a farm. but by the way she sells apples i'd have to guess it was an apple orchard. that sounds easy. i always did love helping my parents on their farm in louisiana. plus the pay is 90 bits a month. minus the rent that will leave me with 40 bits to go and do other things.

i took another glance at the map. i'm guessing that sweet apple acres is the place that i want to go. it was about 3 blocks away. that's not a bad walk. i rolled up the paper and put it in my bag. i got my things and headed out. i walked down the road took a left. then another left. then a right. soon the road trailed off towards a huge apple orchard. i made my way down the beaten path and past the apple tree's.

damn there were allot of apple trees. i continued down the path until there was a break in the tree's that revealed a large barn looking house. that's probably it. i walked over to the barn house and knocked on the door. the door swung open and towering over me was a large red stallion with huge muscles and a cart brace over his neck.

i was almost afraid to say hi "Hi is applejack here, i'm here for the job"

"Hey applejack..." he shouted out into the house. i could here applejacks voice reply.

"is it somepony here for the job"

"Eeyup." he said. he walked away and applejack appeared in the doorway.

"well damn it's you and...uh...did ya'll always have that scar 'cross yer face.". she said with a worried expression.

"don't worry about it."

"well okay then... so you're interested in buckin' apples."

"that's why i'm here." i said with a smile.

"follow me" she said. she lead me over to the field of apples and picked out a tree. it already had a few of buckets under them. she went over to it and kicked it with her back hooves. all of the apples fell out of the tree and perfectly into a bucket. "that's all there is to it. just buck the tree and bring the buckets into the barn over there."

"thats too easy."

"i beg yer pardon." she said with an awkward look.

"well on my world we had to climb ladders and pick the apples one by one."

"interesting. well ya'll can start tomorrow at noon." she said

"alright then." and with that our business was done. i was to report to her tomorrow at noon and, well do my job. so what to do now. what to do now. suddenly my train of thoughts was interrupted when 3 little fillies came running through the bushes on a scooter and a waggon. they crashed right into me and the whole accident was just one big mess.

i was laying on the ground covered by a wagon with a filly on it. the filly got off and i pushed the wagon away. "hey watch where you're going," i said standing up and brushing myself off. the three little fillies removed themselves from the wreckage and stared up at me.

"sorry." said the purple maned pegasus.

"it's fine just be more careful next time."

"hey i don't think we have met before. i'm applebloom, applejack's sister" said the redhead filly with a bow in her hair. i didn't know applejack had a sister.

"i'm sweetie belle." said the little white unicorn.

"and i'm scootaloo." said the little orange pegasus.

"uhm hello...i'm crimson blast." i said waving to the three little fillies.

"hey you're the guy who yelled at my sister rarity." said the little white unicorn. i didn't know rarity had a sister.

"why did you yell at her sister." said scootaloo.

well...you see...uhh." but before i could finish i was confronted by the three fillies. they bombarded me with a series of questions. before i could even answer i was hit with another question. every time they opened their mouths i felt worse and worse.

it was like torture. they made me feel like a monster. that wasn't good when i was a kid i built up a condition from being picked on. whenever people made me feel horrible i became horrible. it was some kind of schizophrenic disorder. it explains why i snapped at rarity and rainbow dash.

"God dammit SHUT UP!" i yelled at the three fillies. "i didn't yell at you sister THIS IS YELLING." the three girls cowered away and they looked like they were about to cry. not again. i hate doing this all i could do was lay down and bury my face into my arms. i felt like crying, i wanted to cry but i couldn't.

"hey. Hey." one of the fillies said. "i'm sorry we yelled at you...are you alright."

i stood up and rubbed the dirt from my face. "no i'm sorry, i was the one who was yelling and you're right. i'm a horrible pony." the three little fillies smiled and i ran off towards the town. i never realized rarity was so upset. i had to go and apologize.

i ran off towards town and i finally reached the boutique. i walked up the front steps and knocked on the door.

"go away...we're closed." i heard coming from inside the building.

"Rarity... It's me Crimson."

"like i said we're closed."

"c'mon rarity just talk to me."

no answer. i put my hoof on the door and pushed it open. the only light was from the sun outside. some of the curtains were closed so it was rather gloomy. i looked around but i couldn't find her until i came across a staircase. i walked up the stairs and saw there was i light shining through the cracks of one of the doors.

i walked over and pushed open the door. i saw rarity in a bathrobe on a giant bed with her face buried in her arms. i walked over and sat down on her bed. i put my hoof on her back and she tried to squirm away but didn't get far.

"i'm sorry rarity...i never was disappointed. i was just blinded by fury." i said. i'm not sure if she was listening to me or paying attention but it was true. she didn't deserve this. i got angry and took it too far.

"please forgive me." i said. she took her face from her arms and looked at me with the saddest frown i have ever seen on any living being. her eyes were watering and they were all rashy from her tears. i don't know why she was making such a big deal of this. "i never meant to make you cry."

she buried her face back into her arms. i layed down next to her and pulled close to me. she squirmed a bit but i got her into a hug. she doesn't look like she had left this room in a while. if she wasn't going to cheer up i would have to try and get her to cheer up.

i took one of my hooves and poked her in the stomach. she sort of squeaked and wiggled a bit. i poked her again, and again. i started to tickle her underarms and belly. she burst out laughing and wiggling. it made me laugh too.

"noooo please s-s-stop it." she yelled by i kept tickling her. i finally stopped and she stopped wiggling and she flipped over and our eyes met. i stared into her deep blue eyes. they reminded me of my wife.

she shuffled in closer and she leaned in and kissed me. i could feel my member growing and getting harder until i was completely stiff. rarity brought her hoof down and started to massage her own dripping wet pussy.

she brought her own hoof down and guided my throbbing member down to her pussy. she flipped me over and she was on top of me. she brought up her hips and slammed her pussy down on my dick. she opened her eyes and looked into mine while she moved her hips up and down on my crotch.

her eyes were so close to mine it was almost like looking into an ocean. she continue to pump vigorously. she broke the kiss to let out a moan of pleasure. it was cute.

i started bucking my hips to her rhythm. i moaned out in ecstasy and she bit her lips.

"oh. fuck rarity...yeah."

she leaned back in and planted another kiss. i could feel the pressure welling up inside me. i was about to blow. her body shivered and she moaned into my mouth. i have a feeling she finished first. well as they always say, ladies first.

i could feel rarity's tongue wander its way into my mouth, and i did the same. as we explored each other's mouths the pressure inside of me was welling up again. i broke the kiss and moaned and rarity pulled herself off of me.

as my penis slid out from between her legs i fell on her back and i released my load onto her back. she leaned in and hugged me as she used her magic to levitate a cloth over and clean her back. my raging boner started to become flaccid again and eventually tucked back into its sheath

"well you do have a good way of apologizing." she said laughing. i started to laugh too. "it's been awhile since i've met a real gentlecolt that lets the lady finish first." she said blushing and batting her eyelashes.

"i'm not a gentlecolt i'm a monster."

"you're not a monster you were just upset and you had every reason to be."

i rolled onto my side and she fell beside me and we stared at each other. she looked into my eyes but i only looked away. it was true i was a monster.

"did, you know i met your sister sweetie belle today and her friends."

" you did?"

"you know what happened?"

"what."

"they had bombarded me with questions about yelling at you, so i lost it and told them to shut up then i yelled at them and almost made them cry." is said turning away from her. i felt her hooves reach around and pull me into a hug. "i am a monster."

"you are not a monster and i refuse to believe so." she said. she brought her head closer and rested it on my neck. i let out a large yawn and i felt my eyes getting heavier. "is my big bad monster getting tired."

"hehe, that's not funny." i said smiling with my eyes half open. i was about to drift to sleep when i noticed a pair of eyes staring through the door. i suddenly sprung to life and almost freaked out.

i turned around and whispered to rarity. "shit , somebody was watching us."

"did you see who it was."

"all i saw were a pair of green eyes."

"green eyes." she gasped "sweetie belle"

"are you going to talk to her about it."i said taking another glance over at the doorway. the green eyes that were once there had vanished.

"i don't know. i've never had to confront her about something like this." rarity said fiddling with her mane.

"i'll talk to her." i have more experience with this stuff afterall.

"are you sure."

" trust me it'll be fine" i hopped off the bed and walked through the door. l looked around but there were no signs of life. guess it was time to play hide-and-go-seek.

"Sweetie belle are you there... we need to talk. i walked to the edge of the stairs and saw one of the doors downstairs slam shut. i walked down the stairs and went over to the door and pulled it open. it was a small girls room. i looked around but nobody was in there.

suddenly the door behind me slammed shut. i went over to open it but it was locked.

"sweetie belle open the door please."

"not until you tell me what you were doing to my sister."

"no sweetie you don't understand i'm incredibly claustrophobic." it's true when i was in the closet with fluttershy i was amazed that it didn't act up. it must have been the company. i usually don't freak out when i'm with somebody but this time i was alone in a small dark room.

"yeah right, you're making that up." it was too late i was starting to freak. i was breathing heavily

"SWEETIE BELLE OPEN THE DOOR NOW." i shouted

"no." i felt like i couldn't breathe.

"sweetie belle you let him out of that room right now." i heard rarity say.

"not until you guys tell me what you did" said sweetie belle. i tried taking deep breaths but that didn't work and i snapped. i needed to get out of this room NOW.

"MOVE." i yelled and with that i kicked the door in and it flew off of the hinges. i stepped out of the room and took a deep breath. there's nothing more satisfying than kicking a door of it's hinges. and with that i collapsed on the floor. rarity rushed over to make sure i was ok.

****i looked her in the eyes and then blacked out. dammit not again this is like what the fifth time. i hope i don't stay out for a while. i still have work tomorrow afternoon. all i knew now is that i was in rarity's arms.


	6. Chapter 6: beauty and the beast

I woke up sometime the next day. i opened my eyes and noticed that i was on rarity's bed. i rubbed my eyes with my hooves and yawned. i felt something rustle behind me and saw rarity hugging me from behind. i let out another yawn and accidentally woke her up.

"good morning, darling. sleep well?" she asked waking up herself.

"mmhmm."

"good, after that scene last night i could just leave you downstairs."

"oh yeah, sorry about the door. i promise i'll pay for the damages."

"don't you worry your pretty little head, i already took care of it. nothing a bit of magic can't fix." i turned over and hugged her and she hugged back. i looked behind her and noticed the clock. it was 10:46. i need to leave for work.

"ugh i have to go to work soon."

"ooh you found a job? were?"

"i'm helping applejack buck apples."

"wait a minute. did you always have that scar on your face." i didn't think it would take her this long to find it. but my hair was kind of messy so i guess it hid the scar. "oh poor baby." she said kissing me on the forehead.

"i'm fine, i'm fine." i said getting up and stretching my legs. she got up and sat beside me. we both got up and walked downstairs to the kitchen and i told her about how i got the scar. we ate breakfast together. she made an excellent plate of eggs and toast. too bad my chances of having bacon are zero to none.

i looked over at the clock and saw it was almost 11:30 i needed to get going. i remembered that i probably didn't have to get in a suit or tie or any kind of uniform. i could just go. so i got up and headed for the door.

"aw, you're leaving already."

"yeah i know work starts at noon." she walked over to me and planted a small kiss on my cheek. "tell ya what. when i get back from work i'll take you out to dinner, how does that sound."

"oh it sound marvellous." well alright then i'm having dinner with rarity after work. she levitated my things over to me and sat them on my back. i gave her one more kiss and headed out the door. i made my way to applejack's farm. on the way i got a bit sleepy so i stretched out my wings and flapped them a bit.

wait. my wings that's right, rainbow dash said that i could use them now. i was about to launch off into the air when i remembered something. i can't fly. i looked up at the sky and felt disappointed. first thing tomorrow i'm getting flying lessons.

i continued my way down the road to the farm. i passed by the apple trees and got closer to the barn. the field of trees finally dwindled down and i could see the barn house in front of me.

i looked over and noticed applejack carrying a few sacks of whatever. i walked over to her to start off work. i yelled out and waved.

"well there you are, and right on time too. remember what ya'll are supposed to do?"

"yep buck the apples and bring them over to the barn." i said dumping my stuff off at a tree stump.

"well git to it. i need 50 buckets of apples by the barn and yer done."

"yes ma'am." i said as i made my way into the forest of apple trees. all of the apple trees already had buckets under them. i walked up to one and kicked the tree. all the apples fell out and landed in the buckets. this couldn't be too hard i said picking up one of the buckets and putting it on my back. these buckets aren't even that heavy.

well i was wrong. about 30 buckets into my work day the trips became longer and longer as i worked my way into the forest. the buckets also seemed to get heavier and heavier. i threw another load of apples off my back and headed back into the grove.

i went up the the next tree and bucked it and all the apples fell out. so did a pony. when i kicked the tree a pony came crashing down on my head. it was rainbow dash. she was probably sleeping in the tree.

"hey, what's the deal applejack, you know that's my favorite tree to sleep in." she said sitting on me and rubbing her head. all i did was groan and try to push her off on me. "hey wait a sec..." she said looking down only to find me and not applejack. "oh hey it's you" she said flapping her wings and floating off me.

i stood up and tried to regain myself. "so hows it goin?" she asked.

"well it was going good."

"anyway what are you doing bucking apple tree's."

"it's my job."

"oh so you're the one she hired." said rainbow dash "how are those wings treating ya."

"speaking of that i need you give me flying lessons."

"sweet, i'd love to, we can start after you're done working."

"well, no. i have plans after work."

"what could be more important than flying lessons." she said fluttering around me with the wings, she finally landed in front of me and stared at my face.

"i promised rarity i would take her out for dinner."

"oh...well...i uh gotta dash...see you tomorrow then." she said as she flew off into the sky trailblazing a rainbow behind her. i stared at the rainbow trail for a minute then returned to work.

a few hours passed and i finally finished all of my work. my hooves were killing me. i waved goodbye to applejack and grabbed my things. i walked down the road and arrived at rarity's house. i walked up to the door and knocked.

"just a second." i heard a voice coming from inside. i heard hoofsteps and the door opened. standing in the door was rarity in the most beautiful dress i have ever seen. she was all clean and tidy. i looked down at my self. i was all sweaty and covered in dirt. "well you look..."

"like shit?"

" not at all." she said blushing. "well maybe a bit." she said laughing i laughed too. "here wipe your hooves off and come inside, you can use my shower."

i wiped the bottom of my hooves and walked inside. rarity lead me over to her bathroom and closed the door behind me. i stepped inside the shower and turned it on. i took a quick shower and washed up. i dried myself off and exited the bathroom.

i walked out of the bathroom and was instantly greeted by little sweetie belle. she had a sad look on her face.

"hey i'm sorry i locked you in my room last night." she said swinging a hoof and looking at the ground

"thats alright kiddo." i said giving her a pat on the head. she instantly perked up and hugged my leg. she let go and flew out the door where i saw her two other friends. rarity walked up behind me and said something.

"she is a pain sometimes, but she's a good filly."

"i know." i said looking back at rarity. she had some kind of suit levitating next to her. i was guessing it was for me.

"here." she said "put this on."

she levitated the suit over to me and i started to put it on. i finally got it on and straightened the tie.

"you look amazing." she said

"thanks" i said "so where are we going for dinner."

"to the new restaurant in town."

"sounds fancy."

"well it is called fancy's restaurant."

"i apologize in advance for any awkwardness and incivility i may bring to this date." i said. she giggled a bit and batted her eyelashes. i walked over to the corner and grabbed my things

"i'm sure you're not as horrible as you look." said rarity. we headed over to the door and rarity locked up. she threw the key in her saddlebag and we were off. the restaurant wasn't very far maybe like three or four blocks.

we finally arrived and we took an outdoor seat. the waiter arrived to our table with two menu's and left.

"i think i'll have the rose petal and daisy salad. what will you have."said rarity. i looked through the menu and completely forgot that ponies don't eat meat. they had salads and sandwiches with random assortments of flowers and other inedible things. wait there they have pasta's

only problem was the pastas came with flowers too. i think i'll settle for the broccoli and lilly alfredo pasta. the waiter came back and we placed our orders. the waiter also brought over our drinks. just some wine nothing much.

"so what do you usually eat in your world." asked rarity. i was afraid somebody would ask this question eventually.

"well you see we eat...uh...some of the same things except humans are omnivores."

"what does that mean."

"well we eat plants and vegetables like you... we also haves cakes and pies too although we don't eat them for lunch or dinner... we also eat other things."

"like what other things." she said staring at me contently. i could see that there was no way of dodging the question.

"well those other things would include other...well...animals."

"oh so you eat meat too." she said. that was a surprising response. "do you catch and eat fish too."

"do ponies do that."

"well no that's not what we do. but most of the wildlife in equestria eats each other."

"i didn't expect you to take that so well."

"well no i am a bit startled but things are different here. so what animals do you humans eat."

"mostly cows, pigs, and chickens."

"okay well you best not tell fluttershy." speaking of fluttershy i haven't seen her since, well, you know.

rarity and i continued our conversation about our two worlds and then our food came. instead of digging in like i usually do i ate slowly. i picked up one of the rose pedals with my fork and ate it. it was surprisingly delicious. a new body must mean new taste buds too.

we happily ate our food and talked about our day. while we ate and talked i heard a voice calling us from behind us. i looked behind me and saw twilight and the purple dragon guy walking over to our table.

"Hey guys" she said waving her hoof. i noticed the purple dragon was glaring at me. he seems mad.

so what's going on." twilight said sitting down on the ground next to us.

"well me and crimson here were having a lovely dinner that he so generously offered." said rarity.

"who's this" said the purple dragon pointing at me.

"i don't think you two have officially met yet." said twilight. "spike this is crimson blast, crimson this is my assistant spike."

" hey isn't this the guy who beat up rainbow dash. and yelled at those three fillies." i could already tell we weren't going to be friends.

"yes i am," i said sipping my wine "so make me mad and i might bury you." is said. it made twilight and rarity giggle, but spike just pouted.

"cheer up champ, i'm not gonna bury you." i said rubbing his head. he just smacked my hoof away. and crossed his arms twilight leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"don't worry he's just jealous cause he likes rarity too." she said. well that would certainly explain it. with that bombshell being dropped the whole thing became kind of awkward

"well..." rarity said. "i simply couldn't eat another bite."

"me either." i said. "beside it's getting dark we should probably get heading home."

"alright i'll see you later then." twilight said. then she and spike walked away and we waved goodbye.

"did you lie to make them go away too." said rarity.

"yep." i replied. "i'm still hungry and we've got a good 2 hours of daylight left." i said with a fake smile on my face as i waved goodbye to spike and twilight.

when i was sure they were gone i sat back down and ordered us dessert. we both had a slice of apple pie and i called for the check. we got the check and t wasn't as much as i thought it would be. it was only 65 bits plus tip. me and rarity stood up and left for her house.

"that was simply delicious. thank you so much for a wonderful dinner."

"don't worry about it." i said. we walked together to rarity's by the time we got there it was getting dark.

"it's pretty late do you want to stay the night."

"no thanks" i said. "i should probably head home and rest. dash is giving me flying lessons tomorrow."

"well...alright. but be safe." she said unlocking her door and stepping inside. i gave her a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye. i started to wander down the road thinking to myself. i had completely started to daydream and ended up tripping over a ditch.

i picked myself off and brushed myself off. i noticed that it was completely dark out. i also noticed something else. or at least it's what i didn't notice. i was completely lost again. i probably should have just stayed with rarity. i got up and turned around and walked the other way. i don't remember making any turns so it's safe to say that i simply over walked it.

i walked down the dark path and eventually came across my neighborhood. see i told you. i walked up to my house and unlocked the door. i stepped inside and lit one of the candles. the room lit up and i dropped my stuff off next to the couch.

i grabbed the candle i lit and carried it upstairs with me. i set it next to the end table near my bed. i pulled the blankets over and jumped in bed. i rested my head on the pillow and pulled the blankets over me.

tomorrow rainbow dash was going to teach me to fly and i was psyched. but something tells me i should bring some painkillers and bandages. and maybe a cold pack. but nonetheless it was going to be fun.

i closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep. tomorrow is a new day and that means a new adventure. whether or not it turns out for good or for worse only time will tell. and i fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7:First Flight

i woke up and started with my regular routine. i walked to the bathroom and showered up. washed my hair and put on deodorant. i walked downstairs and grabbed some breakfast. i should run to the market later today. or maybe tomorrow.

i walked opened the door and stepped outside. i felt something crumple as i took a step. i looked down and saw a note taped to the welcome mat. i picked it up and read it.

"hey when you're done with work meet me in the park and we can work on your flying." it was a note from rainbow dash. she must have gotten up early. to put this here. well i had to get to work now. i walked down the road and made my way to applejacks farm.

when i finally arrived at the farm i noticed none of the tree's had apples in them.

"ah you're here early." i heard applejack say. i looked over and she was making her way out of the forest.

"might as well get all this work out of the way, besides i have flying lessons with rainbow later."

"well alrighty then, follow me." she said walking towards the barn. i walked with her and she pushed open the barn doors. and we walked over to some kind of machine.

"okay this parts simple. just throw in the apples and this thing will juice them. all ya'll have to do i pump the lever there and the machine will do the rest."

"sounds simple enough."

"eyup, fill up those bottles over there and you're free to go." she said pointing to a pile of jars. there weren't that many maybe like 30. so i grabbed a barrel of apples and threw them into the machine. i threw a jar under the nozzle and walked over to the lever.

i pumped the lever and the machine buzzed to life and the barn was filled with the sound of gears shifting and apples being juiced. that's basically what the next 2 hours of the day were like. nothing else interesting happened.

when i finished i grabbed my things, said goodbye to applejack, and headed for the park. after about twenty minutes of walking i finally came across the park. it looked like a great place to practice. and if i fall on my face it's ok because everypony will be there to laugh at me.

i walked through the park gate and looked for rainbow dash. suddenly i was tackled from behind and rainbow dash was sitting on my chest.

"ready to learn." she said with a smile on her face.

"can you please get off of me." i said struggling to get free.

"as part of your first test you need to push me off." she said. my face went blank and i simply grabbed her legs and rolled over until she was under me. i then got up and brushed myself off.

"smart..." she said "you'll make an excellent flier." she said getting up as well. "first things first i want you to fly as fast as you can before you stumble and wipe out.

great, i thought to myself. i propped up my wings and got into a sprinting stance. then i took off. just like that i was gone. i was flying so fast and ended up so high in the sky. i have no idea how i was doing it but i was. before i knew it i was at cloud height. which in this world isn't very high.

the rush of adrenaline, and the cool breeze in my hair felt amazing. if my dad could see me now he would be proud. i dipped down and banked left. i was going so fast i could barely see. which became a problem. i couldn't see. suddenly i could feel tree's whirling by my face. i flew up higher so i wouldn't crash and kill myself.

i started laughing and whirling through the clouds. when i heard somebody shout at me.

"you lying son of a bitch." i heard a voice it didn't sound mad but playful.i looked beside me and saw rainbow dash smiling and trailing a rainbow. we raced through the clouds together and all around the town. i never would have thought flying would be this much fun. we flew for what felt like hours but was probably only like 20 minutes.

"alright. that's enough fun for now. let's slow down and work on your technique."

"alright." i said. rainbow dash flew down to the park and landed. i circled around one more time and got closer to the ground. as i hit the ground my heart stopped. i realized something horrible. i don't know how to slow down. i tripped over the ground and went tumbling for a little bit before springing back into the air.

i had one option. an old trick he taught me when flying a helicopter. if you can't stop forward movement then you need to fly up drop and stop. and that's what i did. i flew up a good 100 feet or so and clutched my wings together.

then i dropped i fell down and down until i fell past the clouds and i could see the ground. i opened up my wings and i felt a jerk on my wings and then they flew backwards and almost snapped. crap i flew to high. the trick did break some of my fall and maybe my wings but now my problem was the ground. i wasn't falling fast and was only like 20 feet high but i knew this was going to hurt.

i hit the ground with a thud and an audible crunch. i yelped out in pain and blacked out. i woke up moments later and heard familiar voices.

"what happened?" one of the voices said.

"i don't know, i told him to land but he just flew into the air and hit the ground, i don't think he knows how to land."

"how did he survive that."

"i saw what he did, he used his wings to break the fall."

"that's pretty clever."

"yeah but i think he overdid it and his wings snapped back."

"hmm"

"i tell you i've seen this hundreds of times in flight school" i felt a jab in my ribas and yelled out in pain.

"well his ribs are broken... and possibly his spine."

"can you fix him."

"i don't know he's pretty beat up."

"c'mon you twilight you have to try." so it was twilight and i'm going to guess rainbow dash that were hanging around my broken body. i started coming back but not fully. i groaned every time a wave of pain lapsed over my body. it was killing me literally. i suddenly remembered my bag there were those pills the princess gave me.

i opened up one eye and saw rainbow and twilight standing over me. they noticed i was up and held me up. i grunted and lifted my arm. i yelled in pain. nope can't use that arm, maybe the other one. yep that one works. i used my good arm to point over to my bag.

"don't be brave crimson you need your rest."

"hnn. ba...ba." i said trying to get there attention. it didn't work. the bag was so close if only i could just. i yelped in pain trying to roll over to get closer to the bag. it was no use i was doomed. i could feel tears rolling down my face.

so this is how i go huh bleeding out in the middle of a park after a flying incident in a world of my little pony. if you think about it, it's all kind of funny. i forced a smile on my face and put my hoof on my cross and prayed.

"what is he doing."

"dammit twilight do something please, just do something."

"i already tried to heal him but he's just to hurt, there's nothing else i can do."

"well lets bring him to the hospital." i could see the tears welling up in rainbows eyes.

"he won't make it that far dash." said twilight. she was beginning to cry too. i prayed for a way out of this but i couldn't see a way. i rubbed my cross and an idea struck me. i grabbed the cross and tore it off my neck. i then threw it over to my bag.

"what's he doing now."

"i think he wants us to check his bag." twilight ran over to the bag and opened it up.

"oh thank celestia these are perfect." said twilight. she rushed back over with the bottle of pills. thank god it's about time. i could begin to taste blood. i breathed a sigh of relief.

twilight brought the pill over and propped open my mouth. she put the pill in my mouth and swallowed.

"now the trick is to take only one at a time or it won't work." said twilight. last time i took three with surprisingly few consequences.

it took a minute but i could feel myself getting better. it hurt like a bitch but it was working. i felt my bones set back into place and then heal.i coughed up a bit of blood and passed out.

i woke up some time later with a sudden rush of energy and adrenaline

"GOD DAMN THAT HURT." i shouted, springing back to life instantly. i flung myself up and started pacing. i noticed i wasn't in the park anymore but in twilights tree. i don't know why but i had the sudden urge to run.

"well its about time." i heard twilight say as she walked out of the other room. "you had us quite worried for a second there. at first we thought you were gonna die. then when i found those pills in your bag i knew you would be okay."

"wheres dash."

"oh when you coughed up blood and passed out in the park she freaked out and flew away." twilight said taking a sip of some tea she had floating next to her. "i've already sent spike out to get her."

i couldn't keep my eyes from bouncing around the room. i was biting my lip and running in place.

"ah yes one of the side effects. i bet you're full of energy right now."

"mmhmm." i mumbled still running in place.

"here why don't you run around for a bit then come back here in like 10 minutes." she said opening up the door. "but no flying.".

with the door open i rushed out of there and i was in a full on sprint. i ran for what seemed like forever. i just couldn't slow down. it felt great to be alive. i didn't even have this much energy even when i was a kid. it felt great.

after running around a bit i headed back to twilights. i rushed through the door and i still had a bunch of energy so i kept running in place.

"oh great you're back. now all the running is going to catch up to you and you're going to faint.

"what are you talking about i feel..." and then i collapsed and passed out. guess she was right. i didn't really understand how i passed out but if you think about it, it kind of makes sense. i felt slight push on my shoulder.

i opened my eyes and saw twilight pushing me with her hoof.

"c'mon wake up." i was so tire it was ridiculous. i could barely stand up on my own.

"hey where's my bag."

"here i'll get it." she said levitating the bag over to me. i reached in and pulled out that pack of gum i used when trapped in the closet with fluttershy.

"what's that."

"gum." i said as i took a piece, unwrapped it, and ate it.

"this is no time for a snack." i ignored her and kept chewing. i soon perked up and was standing on my own two feet. i put a smile on my face and lightly danced happily over my accomplishment.

"what the hell you shouldn't have this much energy right now, this makes no sense."

"oh no it does. you see you witnessed something you don't know therefore you think of it as impossible."

"but i don't get it." she said staring inquisitively as i stood there chewing my gum happily.

"it's energy gum."

"what?"

"oh yeah my favorite little earth invention." i said. "its just gum but it has the effect of like 3 cups of coffee and works almost immediately."

"damn. you're bags full of interesting surprises."

i was about to say something else but i was tackled from behind and me and the attacker hit the wall. it took me a second but i noticed that it was rainbow dash. she pulled me into a hug from behind and held on tight.

suddenly a very exhausted spike came running through the door. he leaned on the door post to catch his breath

"dash is here" he said

"oh thank celestia you're alright." she was holding on tight i must have scared the crap out of her.

"yes yes, he is fine. you did cause quite a scene there at the park though."

"how big of a scene." i said still being strangled by rainbow dash.

" about 15 other ponies were there to see it."

"that is quite a scene." i said. i looked over my shoulder to rainbow dash. her eyes were stained from the tears, she was silently weeping.

"dash can you let go of me please." i said she took a sniff and wiped the tears from her face.

"alright just promise me you will NEVER do anything stupid like that."

"alright i promise." and with that she let go and we both stood up.

i finally brushed myself off then i was tackled from behind once again. it was like JV football all over again. this time my attacker was rarity. when she tackled me we ended up pushing rainbow dash down too.

"oh thank heavens you're alright." rarity said planting a huge kiss on my cheek.

"i take it you heard."

"darling everypony heard the story." said rarity "when spike told me that you had died i ran over here."

"wait he told you i died." i looked over to the purple dragon who was bolting out the door. "he was smart to run."

"don't be mad at spike he's just a baby dragon."

"i'm not mad. don't worry, i just feel bad that you thought i was gone."

"guys this is really touching but i can't breath, so maybe you could get off of me." said rainbow dash. i had just noticed that we were laying on top of her. we got up and got off of her. i looked over to the doorway and saw pinkie pie, fluttershy, and applejack walking through the doorway.

"we all heard what happened. you alright sugarcube."

"yes i'm fine, trust me i've had worse landings in my time."

"what are you talking about." said rarity. time for some history 101.

"gather round kiddies and hear the great tales of..."

"just tell us." twilight said interrupting me.

"alright." i said "well you see my people do know how to fly, but not with wings. we fly with huge metal contraptions."

"what do you mean metal contraptions."

"we have a civilization that is hundreds of years past yours. see we fly with the help of machines." i said i could already tell this was going to be a heart stopper for all of them.

"oh yeah." rainbow dash said "do you have machines that can break the speed of sound."

"better. we have machines that can mimic the speed of light."

"that's incredible." twilight said. i told them the stories of the flying machines that we just call jets. and how i died but was revived after being shot down in the war. they all seemed very interested. especially rainbow and twilight.

"well that's quite a story dear. said rarity walking up beside me." i noticed it was getting dark so i should probably head home and rest eventually.

"i could use a drink right now." i said. it was true i was pretty sore and i needed something to drown it out.

"sure what do you want water, soda?"

"i was thinking of something more on the alcoholic side."

"i don't keep alcohol in my house."

"damnit. well then why don't we take this party over to the bar."

"i can drink to that." said applejack.

"not here you can't" i remarked. i managed to get a few laughs out of that one. so we mosied our way over to the closest bar we could find. we had a few drinks and celebrated me not killing myself. after awhile it got dark and i was wasted.

eventually the manager kicked us out and we each went home. i walked home with applejack and rarity since we all live close to each other. we got to my house and i offered if they wanted to come in. applejack said no but rarity said yes. i opened the door and waved goodbye to applejack.

me and rarity walked inside and i lit one of the candles. the room lit up and i crashed on the couch. rarity came over and sat next to me. since we were both drunk we were probably going to do something stupid (or awesome.) maybe both.

"hey baby why don't we go have some fun." rarity said. i liked where this was going. we got up and i brought her upstairs to the bedroom and lit one of the candles. she threw herself on the bed and beckoned me to join her.

i got on the bed and cuddle up beside her. our eyes met and then our mouths. the kiss wasn't very passionate, it was pretty drunk and sloppy but there was love in there somewhere. she brought her hoof down and started rubbing my crotch. i brought my own hoof down and returned the favor.

rarity pushed me on my back and started to give me a hoof job. when i was nice and hard she began to massage my groin with her tongue. she brought her head up and slammed it down on my dick. she continued pumping her head up and down. i started to moan in pleasure. that only made her go faster. i brought my hoof to her head and started to push her down all the way.

i could feel myself about to burst. i wonder if she spits or swallows. i guess we'll find out. i could feel myself building up with pressure. she let out little moans as she continued to pleasure me. the noises she makes are cute.

"ugh yeah that's feels great" i said. i was about to blown. i pushed rarity's head down deep and released my load right into her throat. she gulped down as much as she could but some of it spilled out of her mouth.

she brought her head up and gave me a little smirk. she climbed ontop of me and spread her legs out over my face giving me a great view of her pussy. i guess it was her turn now.

i brought my face closer and planted a little kiss on her clit. she shivered and cooed. it was cute. i stuck my tongue out and started to lap hungrily at her juices. tasted like lavender. i pushed my head in further and moaned. she started to buck her hips against my face.

i continued to lap at her juices and every lick made her wetter and wetter. she started to moan and groan with pleasure.

"oh celestia yes i'm close, don't stop." she said, and i complied. i stuck my tongue in again and started to dig deeper. without warning she cried out and drenched my face with fem-jizz. she also managed to fill my mouth a bit. i swallowed and took a deep breath.

i removed her thighs from my face and came down to kiss me. our lips met and we laid there and made out. she levitated a cloth over and cleaned up while we kissed. i grabbed the sheets and pulled them over us. we broke the kiss and snuggled together.

today was a great day. well except for the fact that i almost died, but nonetheless i survived and i just had some great sex. i'm feeling great. i think tomorrow i'll take it slow. probably go to work then learn how to land, and slow down too. my eyelids grew heavy and i shut my eyes. i pulled rarity in close to me and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8: another day, another surprise

i woke up the next morning with a killer hangover. i saw rarity still sleeping next to me. i didn't want to wake her so i slowly got up and went over to the bathroom. i took a leak and stepped into the shower. i washed up real quick and headed downstairs to make us some breakfast.

rarity made her way downstairs as i finished up making pancakes. we ate breakfast and i cleaned up. i walked out the door with rarity besides me and we went our separate ways for the time being she went home and i went to work.

i arrived at work and applejack had me juice more apple apples. it was just a normal work day. applejack's brother big mac. he stopped by and we talked. he isn't much of a talker but a really cool guy in general. when i finished my work i headed to the park.

i need to work on my landing and slowing down. i know i mentioned that i was a pilot but wings are the shit. these babies are the real deal and stack on a totally different level. i do have a basic understanding of flight though. i wasn't a very good pilot.

i got to the park and it was mostly empty. i found a nice quiet spot and started practicing. i spent at least 3 hours flying around and landing. easy now for the real challenge. i got ready and took off. i started flapping my wings as hard as i could. now that i'm at high speeds lets slow down. i started to flap slower and slower and eventually i slowed down to a steady pace.

that's a personal achievement for me. i thought to myself as i landed. i hit the ground and was about to leave for some food when i heard crying from a nearby tree. i walked over and saw spike sitting under the tree rubbing his eyes.

"hey spike what's wrong." i asked walking over. he looked back and gave me an evil glare then turned away.

"go away." he said. he was clearly upset with me.

"c'mon spike don't be like that."

"why is it that rarity likes you but not me" he said pouting.

"oh, spike." i said "here let me tell you a story.". i sat down next to him but he turned his back on me.

"when i was in school i met a girl that i really liked. she had long curly hair and the bluest eyes ever, she was perfect. we started going out and before i knew it i was 22 when i asked her to marry me. we have been happily married since then."

"wait if you're married why are you dating rarity."

"let me finish spike. you see one day i had to go to my job. when i got there something went wrong with one of the machines and i was put into this world. it took me awhile but i accepted the fact that i might never see her again. and if the day should come that one day i would return to her then that would be the best, but until then i'm here and i'm happy."

i don't think spike was getting it. i put a hoof on his back and patted him.

"you see spike, sometimes life isn't what we expect. but when something goes wrong it's important that you carry on but keep those you love with you always. do you see where i'm going with this."

"i guess so. but what if i can't move on."

"trust me spike you can. i know it may seem hard at first but i did move on. now i'm not telling you to completely forget rarity but keep her memory in your heart. trust me there isn't a day that goes by when i don't think about my wife."

"you keep telling me to move on but it's not fair why do i have to move on."

"because i already did spike. now it's your turn."

"i guess"

"and if rarity truly loves you then you can have her and i won't complain. but that doesn't invite you to meddle in our affairs. alright champ."

"yeah okay." he said wiping a tear from his eye.

"c'mon," i said "i'll buy you an ice cream then we can go back to twilights."

"okay then." he said. he instantly perked up at the mentioning of ice cream. twilight was right he was just a baby dragon but he was mature for his age. we headed into town and bought spike an icecream cone. i ended up getting one too.

we sat down on a bench and ate ice cream together. when we finished we headed to twilights we got there and spike went inside. i wanted to do other things. i spread my wings and took off.

as i was flying i saw rainbow dash sitting on a cloud. no way i can stand on clouds too. i flew over to a big cloud and landed on it. it was so soft. i fell on the cloud and started to roll around like an idiot.

"what are you doing" i heard a voice behind me. it was rainbow dash staring at me awkwardly.

"i...was...uhh." i started to blush from the embarrassment. i realised now that i was rolling around on a cloud like a retard.

"i think you might have had too much to drink last night, either that or you hit your head when you fell out of the sky."

"probably both." i said standing up. rainbow dash giggled.

"so wanna race."

"sure"

"okay the course is down to the park circle it once then over to the top of town hall." she said pointing out the course.

" alright and the loser should have to do something."

"like what." she said.

"i don't know anything. the loser has to do the very next thing the winner says."

"you got yourself a deal" we shook hooves and stood at the finish line.

"ready...1...2...3...GO." rainbow shouted and like that we were off. we were neck and neck. we hit the park and i banked left and zoomed around. i started pulling ahead and rainbow dash was literally inches behind me. i could see the determination in her eyes

we peeled out of the park i was still in the lead but dash was catching up. eventually we were neck and neck again. i flapped my wings as hard as i could but she was getting faster. she then sped up and hit the finish before i did. she did a little dance and floated over to a cloud to finish her dance.

i floated over hanging my head in defeat. i was ready to accept what's coming to me. i floated up and landed on the cloud and dash finished her little dance.

"alright. enough with the gloating what do you want?" i asked. i was a bit scared of what she would say but overwhelmingly curious too.

"i want you to.." she said pausing for some kind of dramatic effect. "kiss me." she said

"what!" before i could interject though she threw herself onto me and our lips met. i was hesitant at first because it was so sudden but i easily warmed up to the idea. we collapsed on the cloud and she kissed me.

dash broke the kiss and turned her back to me.

"i'm sorry i shouldn't have done that."

"dash..."

"i know you and rarity are a thing..."

"Dash...

"but its just that you know..."

"listen to me." i said. that got her attention. she sat down near the edge of the cloud. i walked over and joined her. she was obviously having mixed feelings. i sat down and put a hoof around her neck. "don't worry about it."

"but i do worry about it." she said staring down at the ground "the truth is i like you. but you're already dating rarity. i'm just so confused."

"don't be confused." i said. "you know told spike a something earlier today that i want to tell him."

"what did you tell him."

"i told him to hold the ones you love close to your heart. but to carry on each day as if it's your last. and never dwell on your losses."

"you're probably right. i shouldn't keep chasing after you." it seemed my speech was working well.

"but i really really like you and i just...just..." okay maybe the speech didn't work too well "i just feel relaxed next to you." she said leaning against me

"it's funny. about two months ago i was just a monster stumbling in the woods. now i'm here in ponyville stuck between two mares."

"yeah it is kind of funny. two months goes by fast."

"especially when you're in a coma for the majority of them." i said. that made her laugh.

i laid back and rested my heads on my arms. rainbow did the same and we stared off into the sky. it was about sundown.

"do you ever watch the sundown where you are from?" asked rainbow

"no. there's too many tall buildings to see the sunset from a comfortable place."

"that sucks, wanna watch this one with me."

"sure." i said we sat up and watched as the sun came down over the horizon. the colors were amazing. it was maybe one of the few sunsets i've ever seen, and it was awesome. the sun finally set and the street lights below came on.

"how are those lights down there turning on."

"i don't know, it's some kind of magic."

"interesting" i said. i'm stuck in this place full of magic and i have yet to see allot of it. the only magic i have seen was from twilight. it's probably all around me. i just have yet to notice it.

"well i should probably go home now it's getting late, see you tomorrow." said rainbow dash flapping her wings and lifting into the air. i waved goodbye and took off too. i'm getting pretty good at finding my way around town now.

i swooped down and landed on the welcome mat. i unlocked the door and stepped inside. i threw my stuff into the corner and lit one of the candles. i walked into the kitchen and grabbed a quick snack before heading to bed.

i finished my snack and headed on upstairs. i blew out the candle and climbed into bed. i thought about what i was going to do tomorrow. i closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

i was woken up late at night to a knocking on my front door. now who the hell could this be i thought to myself as i walked down the stairs. i walked through the living room and past the kitchen to the door. there was another knock on the door.

"alright alright chill out, whoever you are." i opened the door and was instantly greeted by a bright light. it was celestia

"jesus christ celestia what are you doing here so late."

"THAT IS NO WAY TO SPEAK TO ROYALTY." i heard a voice shout at me from next to her. it was that pony we saw in the woods.

"calm down luna you're going to wake up the whole neighborhood."

"i'm sorry sister." she said in a calmer voice.

"good now alex may we come in."

"uhh well...yes of course." i said holding the door open as they entered. "can i get you anything."

"not now." she said walking into the living room with luna. she looked around as if she was silently judging me and my house. i walked into the room and saw she was sitting on the couch. next to her was luna.

there was a dead silence in the air as i walked in. celestia was looking around but luna was staring at me. i don't think she approves of me or something. i sat down in the chair across from them. celestia was silent for a while then she focused her attention on me.

****"Alex we need to talk"


	9. Chapter 9: Always Have Faith

i was afraid this moment would happen, but i was also hoping for it. the reason why is i anticipated that this was a one way trip and i am ready to move on like i told dash and spike...but it would take time. i swallowed hard and waited for the princess to continue.

"after some research and magic attempts we recovered some kind of news article from your world."

"let me see it." i said eagerly.

"i warn you it doesn't sound good."

i was eager to read it but also afraid. i quickly swiped the newspaper from her hand and read it over...this can't be right it's not possible.

the article read "dreams turn into nightmares when the dream arc, current project of the government, melted down and destroyed the entire state of arizona. arizona now lays in a state of nuclear fallout. there were no survivors. this will certainly go down in the books as one of the worst disasters to happen to america.

i dare not read anymore. my family, my wife and daughter are gone and i can't be with them. the pain i was feeling right now was the worst feeling i have ever felt. there are literally no other comparable feelings to what i am feeling now.

i felt like crying. fuck that i was about to burst into tears but the only thing stopping me was the presence of the two princess's. but they probably knew i was about to meltdown myself. i could feel the tears rolling down my face.

"princess p-please leave."

"alex are you going to be alright." she said. i could tell her serious tone was gone and she felt bad for me.

"please leave now." i said gritting my teeth trying my best not to lose it and yell at them.

"alright alex i will leave you to yourself, but please take care and don't dwell on things out of your control." with that she left and i broke down and cried over my family. i wish i could see them one last time but i can't. all i have is the memory of their faces.

for the next three days i loathed in my own sorrow. i didn't eat much i just lied in my bed slept and when i woke up i mourned the loss of my daughter and wife. the only thing giving me comfort was my wifes cross that she gave me. i kept it with me always.

at some points during the time i spent crying i experienced random flashes of violence. mostly because i was angry at myself. i was also angry at the government for creating such an evil device.

my friends tried to come and talk to me. they would stand outside my door knocking and shouting my name, sometimes they tried to kick the door in or pick the lock but i barricaded it. i just wanted to be alone. i know i said i was ready to move on before but this is different. i was able to take comfort in the fact that my family will remember me and carry on too, but that's not going to happen.

i don't know what day it was i lost count but there was a knock on my door. i could hear whispers and the shuffling of hooves on the mat.

"blast please come out." said twilight

"yeah come on you can't stay in there forever." i beg to differ.

"sweetie come out and talk to us. it won't help if you lock yourself away forever." they were right i needed fresh air. i removed the shelf i used to blockade the door. i kicked it open and flew out at max speed leaving the other six in a trail of dust.

i looked behind me and saw them trying to chase me then rainbow dash flew from the crowd and started soaring closer to me. i ducked under tree's and flew around corners to try and lose her but she was good. she got close enough to try and grab me. i dove left and braked HARD.

she flew past and crashed into an orange stall. i turned around and flew to where someone wouldn't find me. i looked left and right and eventually crossed the forest. it was perfect. i dived down and disappeared into the thick of the shrub.

i touched down and brought my wings back in. i walked around and looked for someplace to be alone. i walked for a while and i was sure that i was nice and deep in the forest. deep enough where nobody could accidentally find me.

i eventually came across a lit cave. it looked interesting, but the fact that it was a lit cave was a bit disturbing. it was the only place i could think of so i walked in. there was a light glow at the end of the tunnel. i could see the torches that were emitting light.

i found the summit of the cave and to my pleasure there was a literal mountain of gold. my eyes sparkled and i smiled a bit i don't know why but it was the best luck i have had in awhile. i was just about to dive right into the gold when i heard a growling coming from behind me.

i turned around to see a green scaly dragon lying curled up on the ground. i backed away. it kept growling and snarling at me like it wanted me dead but why wasn't it attacking me. a closer look at the dragon showed that there were scars all over the dragon. there was also a blood stain on the floor surrounding it.

then it hit me. this is the same dragon that almost killed me when i first came here. a flare of anger burned inside me and i charged at the damn beast yelling like some kind of warrior. i came close and bucked it right in the head.

i brought my legs back and bucked him again and again. his skull broke and showered me in blood. i kicked him again and again until i couldn't hear the crunch of bone under my feet. i was pretty sure the dragon was beyond dead. but i didn't care i was so angry for millions of reasons and he was the only thing i could take it out on. i eventually got tired and my hatred reverted into sadness. i sat there and silently wept for a few minutes

i became angry at myself again for crying. this isn't what i should be doing. i shouldn't be wallowing in self pity. linda wouldn't have wanted me to carry on like this. she would want me to be strong. my dad was strong and his dad before him and there on. i wasn't about to become some weak link in the chain. i looked over to the mountain of gold before me.

there must be a way i can take all of this with me. i will find a way. if you're wondering i'm not going to keep it all. i'm going to donate it to a good cause. i walked around the cave looking for something to carry this stuff with. after a minute of walking around i stumbled across a little cave opening revealing an abandoned mine. this was perfect. i took some of the minecarts and brought them into the other part of the cave.

they were quite large but i don't expect to carry all the gold back but i want to make one trip and haul as much as i can. i started filling the cars full of gold and gems and other valuable things. i filled up all four and linked them together with some chains that were laying around. i tied a harness with a length of rope by a few barrels of tnt at the mine and my plan was coming together.

the only problem was how would the other ponies react. i'm covered in dragons blood hauling a fortune of gold and gems, right after i locked myself in my house for the last three days. it is definitely going to be an interesting welcome home.

i saw a chest on the ground i went over and opened it but it was empty. i filled it with gold and tied it to one of the carts. that gold was for me. but the rest was going to help other ponies. the princess said not to dwell on things we can't control. so i'm going to help others so they don't have to.

i put on the harness and started to walk. the gold was very heavy but it was lighter than i imagined. i soon made my way out of the cave. i know for a fact that i was only going in one direction so i headed off in the opposite direction from that towards ponyville. but to make sure i undid the harness and flew past the brush of the forest. i looked over and i saw ponyville just as i predicted. and it looks like if i go in the direction that i'm already going in i'll end up on the main road.

i flew back down and put the harness back on. i continued in my original direction. the carts felt like they were getting heavier and heavier. i could feel my legs start to give in, but i powered through it. i eventually started to quietly grunt with every step. i soon hit the main road but i was slowed to a crawl.

i started to think about if i couldn't do it and that ended up bringing a few tears to my eye's but i wasn't about to let that happen. i picked up the pace and worked through the pain. i started huffing and grunting and eventually made my way to town. i wheeled up onto a hill overlooking the market road. it was very busy this time of day. i stopped and sat down trying to regain the feeling in my legs. i looked over the road as the wind swept by my face. a lot of ponies had stopped to whisper and stare at me.

i can't blame them. i was quite a scene. i had a blood covering my body and a mountain of gold strapped to my back. i couldn't even believe it and i was there. eventually twilight, rarity, rainbow dash, and others made their way through the crowd.

"what the fuck is this. are you hurt you're bleeding." twilight said.

"oh my gosh where did you come across all of this." said rarity. i sat there and took deep breaths.

"c'mon we need to get you to the hospital." said rainbow dash

"i'm fine." i said

"but-but all this blood."

"not mine." i said glaring at the ground.

"what the hell." said rainbow dash.

"well what do you plan to do with this..." said twilight gesturing to the mountain of gold on my back.

"i don't know...charity maybe."

"Really?" they all said seeming confused

"there ain't much i can do with it, and at least charity knows what to do with the money."

"that is the most generous thing i have ever seen."

the next thing i knew is the heat ended up getting to me and i started to black out. i managed to catch myself though. i ended up sitting on the ground. we ended up chatting on how i found the gold. after a bunch of sob stories and hugs i ended up feeling better.

i ended up telling them the truth about my life back in the real world. they were a bit taken away but they understood. after a while a crowd had started to gather around our little group. i hadn't really noticed until a gray maned mare came over and spoke up.

"ahem." she said clearing her throat. "hello i'm mayor mare, and as you can guess i am the mayor of ponyville."

"let me guess you want me to make a donation."

"well um yes." she said looking a bit guilty.

"alright. you can have this cart here, but i want it to go to the schools and building more homes."

"we can do that."

after a while i made donations to every home business and company. even to my friends. i gave applejack money to spruce up the barn. i gave rarity money to but more fabrics. gave twilight some money to extend her books because i noticed that there were actually a few empty shelves in her house.

i gave fluttershy some money to take care of the animals she loves so much. and i gave pinkie some money for party supplies or whatever it is. the rest went to charity and other good causes. the other six helped me of course. and after everything was done i grabbed the chest i was going to keep for myself and headed home. the others came with me and we just talked.

"so what i've been wondering about, how the hell did ya haul all that gold." asked applejack.

"i don't know i just kept believing."

"believing in what." said twilight.

" did you read the bible i gave you twilight."

"well not yet but i don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"once you read it maybe you'll understand."

"but i don't get it now how is your god going to help you here."

"have you ever had one of those moments when something happens that you don't think is possible or you're in a situation where it seems all hope is lost but then just like that the situation resolves itself."

"well sometimes." she said puzzlingly.

"who do you thank for that."

"celestia. why, i don't understand what this has to do with anything."

"just read the book and you'll get it."

after a bit of walking and hauling we eventually went our separate ways and i went home. on my way home i was thanked by many other ponies for making donations to their companies and stalls. i managed to make my way back home. i opened the door and walked inside. i made myself dinner and threw the chest onto the living room floor. i sat down and ate dinner. i was having a daffodil and daisy salad. sounds gross but it was oddly delicious. i looked across the table to the three empty chairs.

seeing the empty space i started to imagine my family. even to the point when i thought they were really there. i must have gone crazy because the next thing i knew i was talking to them.

"how was your day honey." my wife said.

"oh you know the same." i said. that's what i always said. every day was the same but i grew fond of it.

"look daddy i made you a picture." said my daughter sarah holding up a piece of paper with a bunch of ponies drawn on it. it was cute and i laughed and rubbed her head. i went to go pat her on the head but the image faded and i snapped back to reality.

i was going to miss them so much. i put my head down on the table and started to silently cry. eventually i picked my head up to a knocking on the door. i went over to answer the door but i noticed a small note slip through the door. i looked at it and went to open the door. i opened the door but nobody was there so i looked around and still no sign of anybody. it was getting dark so everybody was heading inside.

i closed the door and went over to the letter on the ground. i picked it up and saw an insignia on it. i opened it up and read the note. it was from the princess.

the note read: "Dear crimson blast. i am pleased to hear that you made a recovery after the unpleasant news i gave to you three days ago. i know it must have been hard and i do apologize for any feelings you may have towards me and my sister. we also heard about your little adventure today and to be honest i am very proud of you. sincerely princess celestia."

i went to throw away the envelope that the note was in but i felt something inside. i looked inside and there was a small gold locket inside. i immediately noticed it. this was my wifes locket but how. i opened up the locket and looked at the photo inside. it was a picture of me linda and sarah. knowing i had this brought a few tears to my eyes. engraved on the side was the phrase "always have faith."

i put the locket around my neck and it hung there with my fathers cross. i have a feeling things could only get better. although this is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. and now i'm not sure if i even want to go back to my world anymore. one thing's for sure though. if i'm going to stay in this world i might as well make the best out of it. and i'm going to make it my own personal goal to make sure everybody is happy.

so with that in my mind i went to bed. i walked upstairs and climbed into my covers and closed my eyes. i drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face and determination on my heart. i fell asleep with no idea of what was to come.

-Authors Note: hey guys is me. i hope you all like the fanfic because i have worked my ass of on it. one thing though since school started and i have classes to attend i'm going to be updating the story a little less frequently. i do apologize if it seems that this chapter moved along a little too fast. but if you guys have any suggestions i do intend to make this a very long story. i'm going to start to interpret the different episodes into it too. and if you guys have any suggestions please let me know-


	10. Chapter 10: Inhumane Experiments

time passed in ponyville and i grew out of my depression. me and the others had many fun adventures. and it was just growing out of winter. next week ponyville is going to celebrate winter wrap up. i'm kind of excited but i know its going to be allot of work.

we already went through the running of the leaves and it was pretty fun. i came in third place. me and twilight had a little race between each other. not like the one rainbow dash and applejack had. they are quite competitive. we just paced ourselves and we ran like hell near the end. she ended up beating me and i accepted my loss.

it turns out that in the chest i had kept for myself had a bit more money in it than i thought. when i was counting the money i realised i took a few things of jewelry. i cashed them in and made a couple hundred more bits. i also came across a huge blood diamond. it was worth a lot. i used the money from the diamond to buy my own house and land too.

so now i'm living in my own house now. its pretty big but it's also lonely here. rarity comes over sometimes and she usually spends the night. i have developed a habit of singing a lullaby to myself every night. it's the same lullaby i used to sing to sarah. the doctors say that i'm showing symptoms of chronic depression. they suggested activities to help me with my depression but they don't work.

my lifes a wreck but i'm happy on the outside and sometimes it feels like i'm happy on the inside. it's not a gloomy life, but sometimes i get depressed when i'm alone not doing anything because that's usually when i don't have anything to distract me and my mind wanders to my family. the doctors also gave me some medication to help me forget but i don't take the pills i just let the bottle sit on the counter.

i've been thinking about getting a pet but if i lost it or when it dies it would only make me feel worse. so i'm not letting that happen. although i do sometimes help fluttershy with the animals. it's fun but i don't do it too often.

i got rid of my job at sweet apple acres. well i didn't exactly get rid of it. i was fired. it was an awkward meeting between me and applejack but my work ethic was slipping because of my attitude and i was messing things up. it was for the best and i knew that too. i was going to quit anyway. so i'm without a job but i still have that chest of gold which has 120,000 bits in it. so i think i'm set for a while. i didn't mean to take so much money from that cave but i guess i did.

every day was just another day now. every day i usually go for a walk around town and wait for something to happen. and whatever happens is what makes my day. sometimes i go and help twilight with her magic by being a test subject. and other times i have a race with rainbow dash. plus i do spend a lot of time with rarity. i also make food with applejack and pinkie.

i woke up today around noon. i usually wake up around noon lately. i don't really miss much. i got up showered brushed my teeth and fixed my hair. i've started to get a bit of a beard. i'm not sure how that's possible but whatever it looks good. i went downstairs and made breakfast. by the time i finished and put away the dishes and grabbed my things it was almost one.

i headed out and walked through town. ponyville looks peaceful during the winter. the white snow and the cool wind. it's nice during the winter being a horse i'm not freezing cold. i eventually made my way in front of twilights house. i could hear her calling me from the window.

"hey blast come in."

she probably had a new spell to test out. whenever she tests out a spell it usually takes a few tries for her to get it right. and sometimes i end up getting hurt or blinded or both. i walked up to the door, opened it and stepped inside.

"hey i have a new spell that i wanted to try on you."

"what is it this time." i asked

"well if i'm correct." she said levitating a book in front of her face. "this should turn you back into a human for a short time."

"really." i said perking up to the idea.

"yep, i thought it might be nice for you to be human again plus i might try it on myself."

i was pretty excited about this i get to be human again. i was a bit too excited that i didn't take the time to think about what could possibly go wrong.

"alright twi hit me." i said determined to be me again.

"alright." she said. her horn started to glow and there was a bright flash of light. i could feel my muscles stretching and pulling. it hurt a bit and i grit my teeth to bare the pain. there was a flashing sound and a puff of smoke. i slowly got up and noticed that i was human again. i steped up and almost felt like dancing.

"twilight you did it." i said searching for her. i turned around and saw twilight. her eyes were the size of a grain of rice and she was blushing. then it hit me...i was naked and standing right in front of her.

"oh shit." i said covering myself. "twilight i'm sorry."

"its fine" she said looking away. "at least it worked. now i think i want to try."

before i could stop her she started to concentrate and her horn glowed. there was flash and another puff of smoke. i looked over and saw her lying on the floor. she was human. she was beautiful too. she tried to get up and ended up wobbling around. she fell down and i went over to help her.

she was very interested in her hands. she was staring at her new body. she looked everywhere. i mean everywhere. she even grabbed her breasts and started playing with them.

"twilight you shouldn't do that."

"how come you don't have these." she said

"only females do." i said covering my eyes and blushing.

"oh...OH, i'm sorry." she said blushing.

"it's fine just don't have too much fun."

for the next few minutes i helped her get on her own feet. i was completely aware of the fact we were both naked but there isn't really anything we can do about that. she finally got up and i helped her walk around. she got a hang of it quickly. i couldn't help stare at her body. it was definitely an awkward moment for me but she was just acting natural.

she walked around her house and started picking up random things. she closed her eyes and stood there for a minute.

"twilight what are you doing." i said

"taking notes." she said

"you know humans can't use magic." i said her eyes opened and she looked over to the notepad on the table.

"oh right." she said. she walked over to the quill and grabbed it. she seemed to have trouble grabbing the quill and writing. "how the hell am i supposed to take notes now."

"here let me." i said grabbing the quill and notepad.

"thank you." she said. as she dictated notes to me i wrote them down. some of them were a bit personal

"well the genitals seem to be similar." she said looking at her between her legs and looking back at me.

"this isn't one of my proudest moments."

"well it could be worse. the spell could have backfired and you could be a half pony half human freak."

"that is true. like the time you tried to turn that cloth into a suit and it ended up fusing to my skin."

"that was pretty bad."

we ended up reflecting on past experiments. some of them were pretty crazy. she walked over and sat down on her couch.

"come and sit with me." she said i slowly made my way over and i sat down next to her.

"so when is this supposed to be over." i asked

"well i don't know maybe like 20 minutes."

"you said for a short while."

"i might have lied a bit." i sighed and tried to relax but it was still a bit awkward. "so is there anything interesting about human anatomy i should know." she said putting her hand on my leg. she moved her arm up and it brushed my dick and i shivered.

"cmon lets have some fun."

"twilight no." i said getting up.

"what's wrong."

"have you completely forgotten about me and rarity."

"she doesn't have to know." she said getting up and pressing her chest against mine.

"alright twilight you wanna know something interesting." i said. i brought my hand over to her neck and pressed down on the artery connecting her heart to her jugular. she fell to the ground and dozed off. can't do that on a horse. but a human works fine. we call it the vulcan death grip like in the old movie star trek. it works quite efficiently.

i felt bad about knocking her out. i couldn't really go anywhere like this so i grabbed her in my arms and brought her up to her room. i placed her in her bed and put the covers over her. i took a seat next to her and sat there. she should be out for the next ten minutes. she might get up before we change back so i have to wait.

i knew that she might have been desperate but not that desperate. i felt sorry for her. i almost wanted to have sex with her too but i'm not that kind of guy. a few minutes passed and twilight started to get up.

"ugh... crimson i'm sorry."

"it's fine twilight. i don't blame you i understand."

"i honestly don't know what came over me."

"it might have been the mental change."

"that makes sense" she said rubbing her head

i looked over at her and she put her head down. she seemed troubled, but like i said she was desperate. maybe i could help her with that later. i walked over and sat down on her bed. it was pretty small. but then again i was twice the size of the ponies again. i put my arm on her back and pulled her close to me.

i put my chin on her shoulder and hugged her.

"c'mon, what's wrong?"

"nothing" she said.

we sat there for a minute in an awkward silence. i tried to comfort her but nothing was working.

"c'mon lets go back downstairs."

"alright."

i walked over to the stairs and stepped on the first step. i was hit with a sudden pain in the base of my spine and it soon rippled all over my body. i howled in pain and fell down the stairs. i hit the wall with a thud and stated writhing in pain. i looked up the stairs and saw twilight on the ground struggling too.

the horrible pain washed over me and i just laid there waiting for it to stop. i closed my eyes and grit my teeth. i grunted at every wave of pain. eventually i got tired of struggling and blacked out.

i woke up minutes later and stood up. i was smaller though. i looked down and noticed that i was a pony again. that hurt more than becoming a human. i looked up the stairs and saw twilight lying there on the top of the stairs. my eyes were only open for a second before i fell back to sleep.

i was woken up by a shoving and a strange voice.

"hey...hey are you alright." said the voice.

"wha...who?" i said waking up. i looked up and saw a brown pegasus stallion with dark blue hair.

"you alright mate?"

"uhh yeah i'm fine."

"are you sure. because i can come back later."

"no it's fine..."

"alright then are you the owner of this library."

"no that would be twilight...crap." i said running up the stairs where twilight was laying unconscious. i put my hoof on her and tried to wake her up by shaking her.

"hey twi wake up."

"ugh...my head."

"um is it too much to ask what happened."

"we were testing spells and there was some...ugh...lets call it magical backfire."

"but you're not a unicorn."

"no but i was the test subject."

i poked twilight again and she made her way onto her own hooves. we walked down the stairs and gathered in the main room.

"are you the unicorn in charge of the library." asked the brown stallion.

"yes that would be me. my name is twilight sparkle."

"its a pleasure to meet you miss sparkle. my name is star grazer." he seemed like a real gentleman. this might be exactly what twilight needs. this is perfect. "i'm here to take out a few books."

"you like to read."

"of course when i heard ponyville had a library i headed over immediately."

"you didn't know we had a library."

"well i'm new here, just flew in from cloudsdale."

"well then let me be the first to welcome you to ponyville."

"thank you miss sparkle."

"please just call me twilight."

"alright then." he said he looked back at me and looked at my wings. "so how did flight school treat you." he said to me

"oh i never went to flight school."

"really. can you fly? i've never heard of a pegasus that hasn't been to flight school."

"my background story is a bit of an interesting one. basically i schooled myself, you know trial and error."

"nice."

"anyway, if you want just look around and pick out some books from the collection." said twilight catching his attention

"alright then lets see here..." he said going about his business and browsing through the books i walked over to the kitchen and pulled twilight in with me

"what do you want"

"you have to ask him out." i whispered so that stargrazer couldn't hear us.

"you think i should"

"well duh. he's excellent i bet you two have tons in common."

"but i'm not good at this stuff."

"just ask him if he wants to take a tour of ponyville with you and if he doesn't have a place to stay offer him a place."

"you think that will work."

"absolutely."

"alright then."

we walked back into the room. he didn't seem to have noticed that we left because he was still browsing twilights collection of books. he had 3 books sitting on the floor next to him.

"alright i think that should be enough for the week."

"do you have a place to stay."

"well no but i plan to resolve that soon."

"well if you can't find a place to stay you're always welcome here."

"alright thank you."

i could see my work was done. i said goodbye to the two of them and went on my merry way out into the town. it was the late afternoon and there was a cold winter breeze. it felt rather cold today. so i decided to make my way back home.

i finally got home and into my nice warm house. i walked over to the fireplace and threw a few logs in the pit and made a cozy fire. i walked into the kitchen and wiped up some hot coco.

i sat down next to the fire and sipped my coco. i always did love the winter time. it was quiet and peaceful. and this was my favorite part. i looked outside and saw it was snowing. that made it perfect. i love to sit by the fire on a snowy day and drink some hot chocolate. i used to do this when i was a kid.

i remember one time on christmas eve i stayed in the living room and tried to see if i could catch santa. i fell asleep next to the fire with the family dog and woke up the next morning buried in presents.

i finished my coco and stood up to bring my empty cup into the kitchen. i put the cup in the sink and walked back to the fireplace.

i took one step and it felt like i had broke my ankle i fell to the ground and yelled out in pain. but i don't think anybody will hear me my house is in the middle of nowhere. i could feel an immense pain in my stomach and back.

i continued to hollar in pain. i rolled around and grasped my chest so i could take deep breaths but it was getting harder and harder to breath. my vision started to get blurry and i could see white spots in front of my eyes.

i yelled out in pain one more time and gave up. i clenched my teeth and passed out. the room around me went dark and silent too. i could feel the cold winter breeze on the back of my neck. i opened my eyes and looked around. nothing was different. the fire went out and one of the windows was open.

this couldn't be good and i think i know what happened. i looked down to see if i was right and i was. i was human again, and naked. how was i human though it didn't make sense. maybe twilight can help me with this. but first i think i still have my old clothes. i made my way upstairs to a locked drawer in my bedroom. i opened it and took out my old army gear. i put it on and it fit perfectly.

now this is going to be tricky. i can't let anybody see me like this or else it'll be a whole shit storm. i opened another drawer and took out an ensemble rarity made me. i need to hide my face somehow too. so i ripped it up and bit so that it would fit and i made it into a little hood. it had a bit of a cape to it.

i put it on and it completely covered my face. good. just incase somebody should see me they won't recognize my face. alright its now or never. i opened the door and peered outside. it was night time, perfect. i looked around and made sure that there weren't and ponies around and i headed out. i stuck to the shadows and the woods

i got to the thick of the town and there were street lights everywhere. there were also a few ponies out there too. i looked around and found a few things i could use to climb onto the roofs. i got on top of the building and jumped from building to building. i felt like some kind of superhero.

i looked around and i made sight of twilights tree. i hopped a few more roofs. i got to the edge of one roof and noticed there weren't any more buildings for me to get a clear shot to twilights. i looked down and there were some ponies hanging out down by one of the houses.

if i dropped down and ran for it they would see me. i looked around and saw a few rocks on the ground. i looked around and there was one lamp keeping the area lit. i dropped to the ground behind the house and grabbed a rock. i stayed on the side of the house and peered over the side.

they were still there. i could step out a bit and still be in the darkness but i only had one shot. i cocked my arm back and threw the rock. it hit the candle and it fell and went out. perfect now i can get through. i sprinted over to twilights. i looked back and the other ponies were setting the candle back up while others were looking around for who knocked it over.

the light came back on but i was in the clear. i reached for twilights door and tried the knob. it was locked, crap. i looked around and noticed the overhang. i started climbing my way up using branches and other things on the house. i got to the overhand and saw that there was a door to the library's second floor.

i pushed the door open and slipped in silently. i closed the door behind me and snuck through the house. i looked around and tried to find her. i heard the door downstairs open up and close. she must be home.

i peered down stairs and the lights turned on and she was with that other pegasus from earlier. crap i can't let him see me. i turned and rushed down the dark hallway into a random room. i looked around and saw i was in twilights room. i heard hoofsteps heading up the stairs and laughter.

i looked around for a place to hide. i quickly got on my back and wedged myself under her bed. i had to shift around so that my feet didn't poke out of the end of the bed. i heard to door creak open and the room was filled with light. i could hear her talking with the pegasus.

"thank you again for letting me stay with you."

"not a problem."

"so where's the guest room."

"thats the only problem i don't have a guest bed but my beds king sized so we can share it."

"alright then, it's better than nothing."

all i could see were their hooves. they disappeared onto the bed and the bed started to press down on my chest. they weren't that heavy but it made it a bit more uncomfortable. i just hope they don't start doing it right on top of me

"good night stargrazer."

"hey twilight."

"yeah"

"maybe tomorrow you and me could go out for dinner."

"that would be great."

"good night twilight."

"good night"

i laid there and waited for a bit until i was sure they were asleep. it was about an hour later that i decided it was safe to crawl from my hiding spot. i slowly poked my head out and crawled my way out from under the bed. i got up and saw the two of them sleeping back to back. they made a cute couple.

but this does put my plans to a pretty bad delay. i quietly snuck my way downstairs and into the kitchen. i looked around and found some blank scrolls and the ink well. i wrote her a quick note.

"twilight meet me at my house tomorrow. it's important. sincerely crimson blast."

i left the note open on her table and snuck my way out of the house. i quickly ran through the shadows and made my way to my house. i walked in and closed the door behind me. hopefully she will get my note and head over here tomorrow.

****but it was late and i was tired. i walked into the living room and slumped down onto the couch and drifted off to sleep. i hope everything works out between her and stargrazer. and i hope that she can help me turn back.


	11. Chapter 11: Easy Come Easy Go

i woke up early that morning to a knock on my door. i went to open it but i remembered my situation and stopped myself.

"who is it." i asked.

"it's me twilight i got your letter. which makes me believe that you broke into my house sometime last night."

"just come inside and i'm pretty sure you'll figure it out."

she opened the door and walked in. she looked up at me and i towered over her. she looked amazed that i was human.

"how are you human again?"

"i don't know it wasn't a pleasant experience either."

"hmm..." she said looking over me. "ah i bet i know what happened."

"what?"

"when i turned you back into a human i must have broken the seel that was keeping you a pony."

"well can you fix it."

"yeah sure it's easy." she said and with that she put her horn on my stomach and it started to glow. i could feel a cool breeze on my neck and a purple flash in front of my eyes. when the flash was gone i was twilights height again. i looked down and i was a pony again. i stretched my legs and flexed my wings.

"thanks." i said

"no problem now if you don't mind i have to go."

"oh that's right you're dinner date with stargrazer."

"so you did break into my house last night."

"i was under you're bed."

"you son of a bitch." she said punching me in the arm.

"sorry i thought it was just going to be you home." i said rubbing my arm. "when i saw stargrazer i freaked out and hid under your bed."

"i'm still mad at you."

"just go eat your lunch." i said pushing her out the door.

"alright but don't do it again." she said. i let go of her and she walked off. i closed my door and went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. i wasn't really up for anything big so i just got some cereal.

after i finished munching down on my cereal i grabbed my things and opened my door. i took a deep breath and started my usual routine of going for a walk. i made my way through town and said hello to all the locals. i got to the park and took a seat under my favorite tree to rest my legs.

i looked around and i saw twilight and stargrazer sitting next to each other at the restaurant across the street from the park. i couldn't help but watch. i saw them look at each other and kiss. they were a cute couple. watching them made me think of rarity maybe i can go see her later today.

i looked back over the park. there were little fillies making snow angels and snow ponies. i looked over and saw applebloom and her friends in a tree. the tree had a wire connecting it to another tree. seeing as this was most likely going to hurt them i got up and walked over to stop them. i noticed that the wire was not in good condition. it was being pulled too tight and the threads were unweaving.

"girls what are you doing."

"we're getting our tightrope walking cutie marks." replied applebloom.

"that is possibly the worst idea i've ever heard."

"we'll show you" said scootaloo.

"do any of you even know how to walk a tightrope."

"not really." said sweetie belle.

"then how do you expect to get a cutie mark from it."

"just watch." said scootaloo as she made her first steps. she moved along the tightrope quite nicely actually. i stayed under her just in case she fell. this wouldn't be the first time i've caught them doing dumb stuff. first was scuba diving and their oxygen tanks were empty.

oh and there was had gliding. they crashed into the tree i was sitting under a minute ago and i had to save them. this next ones the best. they thought they could be profesional lion tamers. so they went to the zoo and jumped into the lions pen and i had to jump in and fight off a lion while they ran away. the list continues. all be it this isn't the most dangerous thing they have done it's still pretty stupid.

scootaloo made it halfway across the rope and she fell. i moved an inch to my left and caught her on my back.

"thanks." she said hopping off. next was sweetie belle. she didn't make it too far before she fell and i caught her too. then was applebloom. before she could begin i walked over and climbed the tree to get her down.

"c'mon applebloom. get down."

"no ah can do it." i made my way to the branch with the rope on it. looking down i see that it was quite a drop it just looked shorter from the ground. i watched her as she made it to the halfway mark.

"applebloom look." said scootaloo. i looked over to the wire was unravelling it was gonna snap. she lost her balance and fell but she grabbed the wire and hung there. she screamed.

"crimson help."

"hold on applebloom."

i spread my wings and drifted over. i went to grab her. the wire snapped and lashed me in the side. i screamed and applebloom fell. i managed to concentrate for only a second and catch her by the tail. i drifted down and she jumped off. i fell to the ground and clutched my side where the wire whipped me.

"oh mah gosh." applebloom said. " crimson y'all alright."

"son of a bitch." i said clutching my said and squirming in pain. i moved my hooves and wing to see the damage. it looked pretty bad. the skin tore and i was bleeding a bit and it just looked nasty. "oh-ho that hurts."

"what happened here." i heard somebody say. i looked over and it was twilight. she was with her boyfriend. "are you alright." she said.

"yeah i'm fine it just burns like hell. how are you did you two have a nice lunch."

"stop being a smartass." she said.

"my word that must have been painful how did this even happen." said stargrazer

"yeah how did this happen." she said. the pain in my side was starting to fade a bit. just enough for me to get up but it's going to be as sore as hell for a while. probably will scar too. i gestured over to the three little fillies who had terrified faces.

"applebloom do you want to explain." she blushed and looked down at the ground. so did the other two. "applebloom."

"well ya see we were trying' ta get our cutie marks in tight roping."

"yeah and then appleboom fell when the rope broke and then crimson caught her. then the wire hit him" said scootaloo.

"correction. the rope hit me then i caught her."

"yeah that."

"alright why don't you three go back to your tree house." the three little fillies sank their heads down and walked away.

"why do you keep doing this." she said grabbing a cloth from her bag and wiping my wounds with it. i grit my teeth a bit because it was painful. it was still pretty sore too.

"what getting hurt or keep those three fillies from killing themselves."

"both."

"well i'm not gonna let them fall and snap their necks."

"that was pretty brave of you." said stargrazer.

"thanks."

after twilight washed away the blood with some water. i got up. i went to step forward but the muscles were still sore so i had to limp.

"do you want some company back to your house." said stargrazer.

"no it's fine i've been through worse."

"it's true he has." said twilight.

"alright well take care."

"i will and you two have fun with...whatever it is you're going to do."

"alright then bye." twilight said. with that i limped away and made my way through town. think i might go see rarity. i walked through the market and past the apple orchard. i came across rarity's house. i went for the door but i noticed a note.

the note read: "dear my beloved customers i have left for phillydalphia for business. i will be gone for a few days but i promise to be back for winter wrap up. stay beautiful...Rarity."

why didn't she tell me that she was going to phillydalphia. i didn't get to say goodbye. oh well i guess i can wait to see her. i limped my way across town and made my way back to my house. i got to the door mat and went to open the door. i took one step and felt a little crunch beneath my foot.

i looked down and saw a note. i picked it up and read it.

"dear crimson. i'm going to phillydalphia for business and i'm sorry i didn't tell you earlier but i had a lot of things to pack. i was hoping to come over and spend one more night with you but you weren't home and you didn't come home for some time. i'm sorry but i'm leaving early in the morning. so this note may be the last you hear of me till winter wrap up. love rarity"

well that sucks. i was out breaking into twilight's house last night so i probably missed her. oh well i guess i'll just have to deal. it's not like she's going to be gone forever.

i opened the door and walked in. i set my stuff down and went upstairs to wash off. i got in the shower and turned it on. the pressure of the pouring water on my whiplash was killing me so i turned it off. maybe just a relaxing bath.

i put the water on and set up the bath. i got in slowly. the warm water hurt my wound for a minute but i got used to it. i sat in the bath for a while and washed up. i got out and dried off and headed downstairs for some dinner.

i looked outside and noticed it was still light out. that can't be. i looked over at the window and saw that it was only about 3:00. i didn't even do anything today really.

well shit what to do now. i can't really think of anything. maybe i could go get some lunch i haven't had any yet. alright i'll do that. maybe i'll go see applejack at her stall. i grabbed my things and headed out.

after a few minutes i found myself in the shopping district. i took a few turns and i saw applejack at her stall. i walked over and waved.

"hey applejack." i said

"well howdy there."

"i'll take an apple pie please."

"ere you go." she said. she tossed the apple pie onto the counter and i handed her the money.

"so i heard what happened earlier today. thanks fer savin mah sister and her friends...again"

"well i wasn't going to just sit there."

"so can i see it." she asked. i instantly knew what she was talking about. i turned around and let her get a view of the red lash running across the left side of my body and onto my back

"whoo-wee." she hollered. "thats one hell of a gash."

"yeah and it burns like hell" i said turning back around.

"well you take care of that thing." she said tipping her hat to me. i waved goodbye and walked off with the pie. i sat down on a bench and dug into the pie. when i was done i tossed the dish and walked around for a bit.

usually when i can't find something to do i just go see rarity. but now i'm really bored. i need to get a hobby or something. or a job. then again i'm basically rich so i don't need a job right now. but i need something to do. too bad i'm not on earth right now. i could just kill the time by playing video games or watching t.v.

i looked around for anything interesting but nothings going on. i walked around a bit and tried to find something to do. but there was still nothing. maybe i'll just get a beer. that's probably a good idea.

i walked around and got to the local bar. i get my drinks on discount since i helped them rebuild it. before it was a pile of shit and now it's nice enough to bring your kids to. i pushed open the saloon styled doors and took a seat at the bar.

"hey it's you. what can i get fer ya."

"i don't know something strong."

"looking to drown your sorrows or somethin"

"no just wasting time."

"well i did hear that time flies by when you're drunk."

"excellent." i said. and with that a bottle of whatever was placed in front of me and i downed it. i spent at least three hours in the bar. i had a few drinks and i won 20 bits in a game of pool. i had a good time but i'm not going to make it a regular thing.

when i was done it was late at night and i started to shamble my way back home. i got to my door and i was so drunk i had to concentrate on getting it open. i finally got the door open and threw my stuff in the middle of the hallway. i walked upstairs and crashed in my bed.

i closed my eyes and drifted to sleep. it was only a matter of time before rarity would come back and we could celebrate winter wrap up. i hear it's a lot of work though. oh well it's definitely going to be interesting. i can't wait. as my head filled with thoughts i slowly drifted to sleep. before i knew it i was out.

-Authors Note. Me again, hope you guys are liking the story i'm working hard on it believe me. to admit it i have no idea what i'm going to do after winter wrap up. i don't have the greatest memory so i might do some filler and then another episode. i'm not going to do every-single episode. just the ones that got the attention of a majority of characters in the actual show. but if you have any ideas how to interpret another episode or even just some filler in the middle that would be great and i would cite you're idea's too." -End of Note.-


	12. Chapter 12: Party Gone Wrong

i woke up early the next day and the hangover hit me like a ton of bricks. i went downstairs and washed up a bit. my face was a mess. my hair was all messed up and i still had that shadow coming in. i looked at the bags under my eyes. they weren't even bags i had luggage hanging under my eyes.

maybe a warm cup of coffee will fix that. i mosied my way to the kitchen and started up the coffee maker. i went to the door and grabbed the paper. i went back into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

i opened the paper and started reading. wasn't much happening. hmm what's this. somebody was murdered last night, shit. the victim's name was ruby glow. apparently she was raped to death by an unnamed assailant who is still on the run. there was a picture of him though. looked like the criminal type. he had blue eyes and brown fur with a red mane.

well that's going to ruin my day. oh well nothing i can do now might as well carry on her name. i continued to read the paper. only three more days till winter wrap up. if i want to participate i have to go to town hall and get my vest for the festivities. i should probably do that today if i want a good job.

the coffee maker dinged and i put the paper down. i poured myself a cup of coffee and pulled the paper back up. i finished the coffee and stopped reading the paper. i rolled the paper up and threw it in the pile with other newspapers that i use for firestarters.

i grabbed my stuff and i was about to leave when i heard a knocking at the door. i dropped my things and headed over.

"who is it." i said opening the door. standing there was the bright pink party pony that i knew as pinkie pie. she was wearing a basket on her head with some notes in it. she grabbed one and handed it to me. before i could ask her what it was for she started to dance and sing and hop around.

i couldn't follow along with the song but then again i never follow along with her when she doesn't sing. she finally finished her song and she was staring me in the face with the largest smile ever.

"so do you want to tell me what i've just been invited to."

"theres no time i have more ponies to sing to." and before i could stop her she disappeared down the road. ugh pinkie pie, always keeping me on my toes.

lets see what i've been invited to. i opened the card and it was brightly decorated with glitter and stickers. they were of snowflakes and other symbols. i read the card, it was an invitation to her winter wrap up party. it's from 5 to whenever. it literally says whenever.

that gives me enough time to grab a vest at the town hall and drop it off here. well i got my plans for the day. pinkie pie always throws the best parties. i usually leave them drunk and i also sometimes wind up at a different place without my memory but whatever i'm pretty sure i have a good time.

i grabbed my things and headed out. i made my way through town and eventually found the town hall. there was a desk upfront and a small line in front of it. i walked up and stood in line. it didn't take long before it was my turn to grab a vest.

"uhm...i'm not exactly sure how this works."

"simple." said the woman at the desk "just tell me what kind of job you want from the list here. the crossed out ones are full."

"lets see here." i said browsing over the list. there were quite a few interesting jobs. "i'll take the cloud clearing job."

"alright then." she said. she pulled away the clipboard and ducked behind the desk for a minute. she came back up and handed me a blue vest. "here is you're vest. you're job is to clear the clouds and make way for the sun to melt the snow."

"cool, thank you." i said as i grabbed the vest and let the next pony in line step up. that was easy i thought as i walked away. i thought it was going to take longer. by the time i made my way back home and dropped off the vest it was only two. i left my stuff at home because i was sure i wouldn't need it.

i walked out and decided to go for a quick fly. i spread my wings and took off. i loved to fly but i don't do it often. i should fix that. i whirled by the clouds and flew past the buildings. i flew towards the park and noticed rainbow dash.

she was looking down over the cloud. i thought i would say hi. i flew over and touched down on the cloud. she looked like she was concentrating on something. i walked over and looked down.

"what are you looking at" i said

"there look." she said pointing down. i followed her hoof and saw twilight and stargrazer sitting under a tree making out. they really were a great couple. i couldn't help but wonder if they've done it yet.

"are you spying on them." i asked

"chill out it's not like everypony else in the park has noticed them" that was probably true. "hey think they've done it yet."

"i was just thinking that."

"hey you get pinkies invite yet." she said.

"yeah it was hard to ignore." she giggled a bit.

"yeah ain't that the truth. so you going."

"i've got nothing better to do"

"sweet, hey you wanna race."

"sure, the usual bet."

"hell yeah." me and dash had a history of our races. our usual bet was a dare. the loser has to do whatever the winner tells them to do. there were restrictions on the dares of course. i've gotten as good as rainbow dash but she usually wins. i don't care though it's all in good fun.

"alright" i said. " the race will be to from here to sweet apple acres then from there to sugarcube corner."

"ready to eat my dust." she said.

"oh you're on."

"3...2...1...GO" i yelled and took off. i was in lead with rainbow behind me. the path to the orchard was easy it's turning around that's going to be hard, but i have a plan. i beat my wings furiously. i was getting ahead but she stayed behind me.

we reached sweet apple acres and i was over the barn. i flexed out my wings and braked...HARD. i stopped and started to fall. i spread my wings again and used the downward momentum to propel me forward. basic physics. i was still in the lead but dash was close behind.

sugarcube corner was a straight shot. i started flapping harder but dash was catching up. soon we were neck and neck. i started to pull ahead but she caught back up. soon she pulled ahead and i was behind her. i dove down at an angle. i picked myself back up and used the extra momentum to come up from underneath her.

i was ahead again. i could tell she wasn't going to give up. she pulled up to me and we were tied again. the sweets shop was close only a few more yards. soon dash pulled ahead of me with unrelenting speed and nearly crashed through the roof of the shop. she started to do her signature victory dance on the roof.

i slowed down and floated over in defeat.

"oh yeah that's another win for rainbow dash."

"alright alright. don't get a big head or else it'll weigh you down." i said rolling my eyes as she kept dancing. "so what do i have to do."

"you know what i'm gonna save this dare for later."

"alright. but i'm not going to remind you if you forget. and you have to use it within a week."

"yeah yeah. chill out i already know what i want to use it on."

i had a bad feeling about this but i was eager to know what it was.

"i'll see you at the party later tonight." she said flying off into the distance. i watched her fly away until something on the ground caught my eye. it was pinkie and fluttershy. fluttershy was carrying a shit ton of party supplies. i flew over and grabbed some of the stuff she was carrying.

"oh thank you crimson. she said smiling at me."

"no problem."

"hey crimsy." said pinkie. she calls me crimsy. she's the only one who calls me that seriously others just say it jokingly. "you ready for the party tonight."

"hell yeah." i said

"thats the spirit." she said bouncing into the air. we carried the supplies to the local club.

"so you booked the club this time pinkie."

"yeah this party's going to be a doozy." she's not lying whenever the party is at the club i usually end up drunk. then i usually stumble over to the house with rarity and she spends the night...if you know what i mean.

we walked in and i dropped off the party supplies. i went to put some stuff on a table when i got a whiff of myself. i wreaked.

"i'm going to go home and clean up" i said

" oki doki loki." said pinkie pie " just don't be late for the party."

"alright bye." i said waving goodbye to pinkie and fluttershy. i spread my wings and took off towards my house. i got home and closed the door. i walked upstairs and showered up. i took my time because i knew i had a bit of time. when i finished with the shower i dried off and brushed my teeth.

i went to my bedroom and picked out a nice suit. i was going to put it on but i remembered this was a pinkie pie party i don't need a suit. i threw the suit on my bed and headed out the door. i spread my wings and took off. it took about a minute before i got to the club. i could hear the music from 20 feet in the air.

i descended towards the door and landed. i walked through the door and i was greeted by lasers strobe lights and loud music. there were already plenty of people here. i saw rainbow dash and fluttershy over at the bar.

i walked over and took a seat next to them.

"hello there ladies." i said with a fake smile on my face.

"it's about time you showed up." said rainbow dash.

"what do you mean the party started at five"

"it's five thirty" said fluttershy

"damn."

"enjoying the party" rainbow said. "it's one of pinkies best so far."

"it is pretty good." i said scouting the room. i noticed that she hired DJ pon3 to do the music. there were already people getting drunk and still no sign of any of my other friends. i looked around until i saw applejack dancing with a pegasus fellow. i saw pinkie pie at the food table stuffing her face.

i looked around a bit more until i saw twilight dancing with her boyfriend. too bad rarity isn't here. i would love to dance with her right now. i turned around and gestured for a beer from the bartender. i looked next to me and saw that rainbow and fluttershy were gone. they were at the dance floor now.

the bartender handed me the beer and i took a swig. after i finished that beer and the next few an hour had passed and i was a bit tipsy. i made my way to the food table and grabbed something to eat. after i ate i made my way to the dance floor and danced with the others. two mares had come up to me while i was dancing and started dancing next to me. they both gave me a smile and we danced.

after the song ended and everybody got tired the mares left and i returned to the bar. the lights dimmed and a slow song started playing. all the couple started to make their way to the floor. i just sat there and watched.

"hey." i heard next to me. it was rainbow dash. she was smiling at me. "about that dare i was saving from the race. well i dare you to dance with me." she said grabbing my hoof.

"well if i have to." i said with a smile on my face. we reached the dance floor and she rested her head on my shoulder and i did the same. we started swaying side to side as the song continued. the song carried on for a little longer and some of the other ponies started to leave. even fluttershy and applejack were leaving.

the song ended and some of the ponies started getting off the dance floor. rainbow took her head of my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. she brought her face close to mine and planted a kiss on my lips. it was a bit of an awkward kiss. she pulled away and blushed. before i could say something she walked away and disappeared into the crowd of exiting ponies.

i could tell that she still had feelings for me. maybe i could find her somepony special too. a bit of time passed and the only people left were me, pinkie pie, twilight and her boyfriend stargrazer, and the DJ.

we stayed and started to clean up. it took a bit but we finally finished. pinkie paid pon3 for being the DJ and she went to open the door. i saw her push on it but it didn't open.

"yo what gives. pinkie did you lock this door." said pon3

"no." said pinkie

i walked over to give it a try but it wouldn't budge. i tried the knob and it wasn't locked.

"there's something blocking this from the other side"

"who's the asshole that did that."

"look the windows are completely covered in snow." said twilight. we were trapped like rats. i looked around for a way out.

"look that window up there isn't blocked." said stargrazer pointing to a high up window. "i can fly up and..." he said flying towards it. but before he could finish he crashed into the walls. he was drunk. "dammit i can do it don't...worry" he tried again but lost control and spiralled towards one of the tables and crashed.

"i'll get it" i said and with that i fluttered my way up to the window. i pushed it open and i was greeted by the cold wind and a bunch of snow in my face. i flew out and closed the window so they wouldn't freeze to death. it was a total blizzard out here.

i saw that there was a ton of snow just around the ground. how did it get there though. but then it hit me. i flew up and looked at the roof. just as i thought the snow from the roof fell down and blocked the doorway. i flew down and started to dig out the door. i took me a few minute but i reached the door. i tried pulling it open but there was too much snow and i was getting very cold. i was wet and freezing. i started to go numb. i flew back up to the window i came out of. i tried to open it but it was frozen shut. i was too numb to pry it open.

i flew back down and started to dig out the snow around the door again. i managed to get more of the snow away. o tried pulling the door open again but there was still too much snow. i tried bucking open the door. i kicked it hard again and again and i could hear thuds on the other side of the door. they were probably trying to kick it open too.

i kicked the door hard again and all the remaining snow on the roof fell and buried me alive. i was covered in a tomb of snow now. and i was still freezing. i tried to get up and shake the snow off but it was heavier than i thought and i fell down again. i picked myself back up in one more attempt and threw the snow off my back.

i could feel my breath getting heavier and the adrenaline pumping through my body. i turned around and kicked the door one last time. the door flew open and almost hit pinkie pie and pon3 in the face. i slid in on an avalanche of kicked the snow away and closed the door.

"i got the door open." i said getting up. i got up on all four but fell down.

"c'mon." said stargrazer "lets get him to the fire he's probably freezing." he and twilight dragged me over to the fire. the warmth of the flames felt nice. twilight and her boyfriend took a seat next to the fire near me. soon pinkie and pon3 sat down too.

"why didn't you come back inside through the window." asked pon3

"it was frozen shut."

"well that sucks." she said

"well i'm just glad you're alright" said twilight

"i guess we can't go home now." said pinkie.

"definitely not it's a blizzard out there."

for a good amount of time i laid at the fire while the others just sat around me. i eventually got feeling back in my body and sat up. we all sat in a circle around the fire. we started telling jokes and stories. it was getting late and twilight was sleeping on stargrazers lap who had sat against a wall. and pinkie had fallen asleep on the floor

i was sitting near the fire still trying to warm up. i poked the fire with the fire rod. it was dying down so i put on a few more logs. i poked it again to see pon3 standing behind me.

"you know you'r pretty cool."

"thanks" i said smiling.

she took a seat next to me. we both sat at the fire together.

"so was it really that cold outside."

"are you kidding me i'm still cold." i said. she laughed a bit.

"i always see you at pinkies party's whenever i'm DJing. your one crazy dancer."

"thanks pon3" i said

"you can call me vinyl scratch. pon3 is my dj name."

"alright vinyl." i said with a smile. i always thought she was some kind of crazy party animal like pinkie but with music. both in and out of the club, but in reality she's pretty cool too.

"so what's you're name." she asked

"crimson blast."

"oh no way. you're the guy that fixed this place up."

"yeah i guess that's me, just don't make a big deal of it."

"thats wicked cool of you to do that." she said with a smile. "this i love this place to death but whenever i play there's always some asshole trying to sell me drugs or somepony trying to fuck me."

"sounds rough."

"yeah but it's not much of a problem anymore since we got that bouncer out front." she said. she tilted over and leaned against me. her blue hair tickled my face. "but i guess i have you to thank for that now."

"i guess you do." i said staring into the fire. i looked down at her eyes. she was focused on the fire aswell. i could see the reflection of the fire in her eyes.

"you know there's no other place i'd rather be trapped in right now." she said. i could see her eyes were growing resteless and she yawned. i yawned too. i laid down and rested my head on my arms. she rested her head on my chest and i let the warmth of the fire put me to sleep.

only problem was i couldn't sleep. i noticed everybody else was sleeping. i stayed there and stared at the ceiling. the fire was still strong. i tried to close my eyes and force myself to sleep. it didn't work i was going to try other things but then i heard a crash coming from the kitchen. vinyl picked her head up and looked at me.

"did you hear that" she said getting up. i got up too and we stared at the doorway to the kitchen.

"yeah, wait here i'll check it out." i whispered.

"becareful." she whispered back

i carefully crept towards the kitchen. i got to the doorway and heard the clanging of pots. i entered the kitchen and looked around for a weapon. i saw a cleaver on the counter. i'm not sure why a cleaver exists in this world but whatever it was there.

the kitchen was dark but i could still make out my surroundings. i looked over and saw the back door slightly creaked open. i walked over and checked it out. there was snow all around it on the outside. but a hole goind towards the door. somepony tunneled their way in here.

i kicked the door close and spoke up

"whoevers in here show yourself" i said. i heard the pots bang again and my eyes darted around the room. i was about to call again but something struck me on the head and i fell. i pretended to be knocked out and hoped the assailant would buy it.

lucky for me he did and he walked over me. i grabbed the cleaver with my teeth and slashed at the back of his hooves. it cut right through his achilles tendons and he fell shouting in agony.

"you son of a bitch." he yelled "i'll kill you." he said grabbing a knife and flailing it around. he got up and stumbled onto three hooves limping on the one i cut. i went to hit him again with the cleaver but he threw the knife and it stuck in my arm and i yelped in pain. i dropped the cleaver and he made his way towards me. i limped away but he was determined to gut me like a fish.

"you're gonna get it now." he said with a smile on his bent down and picked up the cleaver. he slashed at me and barely cut me across the chest. i cringed with pain. he held it up one more time. kept backing up but he was too close. suddenly a frying pan came up from over his head and it cracked him upside the skull. he dropped revealing vinyl scratch holding the frying pan

"nice." i said with a smile.

"you are one crazy dude." she said. the attacker tried getting up again but she hit him one more time with the pan. he hit the floor with a thud and he was out cold. he wasn't going anywhere now. i looked and vinyl and she dropped the pan and walked over to me. "i thought i told you to be careful."

"i'm not a very careful pony." i said

"woah dude when did you get stabbed." she said poking at the knife protruding from my arm.

"uh i guess after i almost cut his leg off."

"nice she said." vinyl then used her magic to grab the guy and we walked out of the kitchen. when we got out we saw twilight and stargrazer just waking up from the scene.

"how did you sleep through that." i said

"sleep through...oh shit." she said jumping back. "when did you get stabbed." she asked.

"thats what i said." said vinyl.

"it's a long story."

after twilight and stargrazer got up we put the attacker into a chair and tied him up with rope. he wasn't going anywhere until this blizzard passes. when i managed to get a good look at him i noticed he was the guy from the paper. after he was tied up i explained what happened. we then put some ice on his head and bandaged up his hoof. don't want him to bleed out and die on us.

i went to pull the knife out of my arm. i pulled it once and grit my teeth but it wasn't budging. aw crap.

"that knife is in there good" said twilight

"yeah it's a special type of knife with hooks on the blade. it's designed to go in but not come out easily."

"have fun getting that out." i heard behind me. i looked back and the murderer. he had woken up and was silently laughing at me.

"well unfortunately for you i know a few tricks." to be honest this wasn't the first time i've been stabbed by one of these. i grabbed the blade and lifted it up. it cut into my arm a bit more but the hooks were not hooked on my muscle any more. i slid it out and threw it on the ground

"there we go" i said. i went up to the him and held the knife up to his face. "you pull any shit...any shit...and i will shove this down your throat." he didn't seem intimidated instead he just spit in my face.

"you don't scare me."

"that wasn't a threat it was a promise." i said wiping the spit off my face. i put the knife on the table and went to go clean my wounds by the fire. i sat down and started to wash my arm with a wet paper cloth. the others came and joined me.

"wait a minute where's pinkie pie."

all i heard was laughing from behind me. i sprung to my face and tackled him to the ground. i grabbed him by the neck and throttled him a little.

"i swear to god if you did anything to her i will fucking end you."

"yeah right." i punched him in the face a couple times.

"where is she you fuck." i said grabbing his knife and holding it to his neck.

"if you kill me i can't tell you" he was obviously looking to get me mad.

"twilight watch him." i said getting up.

"and just so he doesn't run." i said kicking him in the leg and breaking it. he screamed in pain. i ran back into the kitchen and lit a candle on the counter. the room lit up and i started searching. i didn't even see her get up and leave what the fuck. i was honestly freaking out. i looked everywhere but i didn't find her. i looked around the room and saw a closet door.

i went over and tried to open it but it was jammed. i looked at the handle and it was broken. i turned around and kicked the door and it fell off it's hinges. i looked in and saw pinkie pie tied up with her legs spread apart.i untied her and took out her gag she hugged me and didn't let go.

"oh thank celestia you found me." she said practically crying.

"he didn't hurt you did he." i said rubbing the back of her head.

"n-no he didn't." she said

"good" i helped walk her into the other room. i sat her down at the fire and gave her a cloth to use as a blanket. i walked over to twilight who was standing over the murderer.

"was it good for you babe." he said with an evil smile. i turned around and bucked him right in the face. i felt his snout break under my hoof and he yelled in pain "you fucking piece of shit i will kill you and your family."

"my family's already dead you fuck." i said kicking him in the gut. he almost puked over the floor. this is definitely the worst night of my life. wait scratch that, the night my family exploded was the worst. i walked over to pinkie at the fire and sat down next to her. she was silently crying.

"pinkie if he did anything to you, you have to tell me." i said wrapping a hoof around her.

"he-he" she said but then she started crying "it was horrible." she said she burst into tears and leaned on my shoulder shivering and staining my fur with tears. that was all i needed to hear. i got up and grabbed the hooked knife off the table. i walked over to the murderer sitting there smiling at me.

i grabbed him by the neck and sat him up. i held onto his throat and looked back. the others didn't look like they were going to stop me. the look in their faces was telling me to do it. i kicked his other leg and it broke he screamed in pain and while his mouth was open i shoved my arm and the knife down his throat.

i could feel his muffled screams as blood filled his mouth and leaked to the ground. the red of his blood mixed with the red of my coat and it made a nice color of scarlet red. i could see tears rolling down his eyes as his muffled screams grew softer.

i pulled on the knife and ripped it out of his throat. i split his neck in half and splattered blood all over the place and all over me. i dropped the knife and sat down in the small puddle of blood collecting around. i took a moment to let everything catch up to me. before anything else happened there was a knock on the door.

"canterlot royal guard."

"oh thank celestia" said stargrazer running to the door and opening it. two armoured pegasi with spears entered the room. they took a minute and looked at the room. their eyes then caught me and they pointed their spears at me.

"get down now." they said yelling at me. i didn't move.

"sir's it wasn't him" twilight said running up to the guards.

"miss sparkle. what are you doing here." one of the guards said. the fact that they knew who she was interested me.

"it's none of your concern but this stallion is innocent. if it weren't for him we would have all been killed by that man." she said pointing at the pony whose corpse littered the ground. i looked at the guards with an emotionless stare. "he's a hero."

"hey isn't that the guy that killed and raped the mare on east street." one guard said to the other. they both walked over and i stood up. they picked up the mangled body and looked it over. "it is they guy from east street."

"looks like justice got to him before we did." he said undoing the ropes and throwing the chair to the ground. he then carried the body outside and threw it in a cariage.

"you did good kid." he said putting a hoof on my shoulder and turning around. he walked outside and they both pulled the carriage away to canterlot. they disappeared and i walked over and closed the door.

i walked back over to pinkie pie who still had tears running down her face. i sat down and wrapped my hoof back around her. i let the warmth of the fire hit me and tried to see the lighter side of this situation. i still feel like i've lost. i couldn't hold back the tears welling up in my eyes. i grabbed pinkie and held her tight.

"i'm so so sorry pikie." i said. tears were rolling down my eyes. vinyl scratch came over and sat down next to pinkie and put a hoof around her. twilight and stargrazer came down and sat next to me

"i swear pinkie i tried. i'm so sorry... s-so sorry."

"it's fine" she said.

"crimson don't beat yourself up about this." said twilight putting a hoof on my shoulder. i let go of pikie and she laid down on the floor in a ball. after some time everybody had fallen asleep except for pinkie and me. it was very late almost morning. i was extremely tire but the only thing keeping me up is the fact that pinkie pie is up. i don't want her to feel alone. i laid down next to pinkie.

"if there's anything i can do to make this right i swear i will not hesitate." i said rubbing her back. she turned around and looked at me. her eyes were red and stained with tears. she looked at me and smiled. she wrapped her hooves around me and pulled me into a kiss. i was a bit shocked at first but i relaxed.

i closed my eyes and let her kiss me. i figured if she's going to remember this it might as well be a happy memory. she broke the kiss and nuzzled her head into my chest. her poofy mane was tickling my face but it was fine. i put my arm over her and i felt her fall to sleep as her breathing pattern changed.

i closed my eyes and fell to sleep too. i still felt bad inside. but there's nothing i can do now. i might as well come to peace with it. i don't know why but i still feel like i have to kick someones ass. but i won't let my anger get a hold of me. as i relaxed i slowly fell to sleep. hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

-Authors Note. OOH what a twist. before i start the actual note i just want to say that i am going to post an authors note after every chapter. on with the actual note. i believe that this was a nice chapter its long and it had a terrifying feel to it. this incident is going to carry on for a while even after winter wrap up which is coming soon. - End of Note.-


	13. Chapter 13: Rewind

i woke up the next day with pinkie pie wrapped my waist. i nudged her a bit to try and get her up. i saw her eyes slowly open. she looked around the room trying to remember what had happened. i looked around to. the place was a mess. there was a large bloodstain on the floor next to a chair and a knife.

you think the canterlot guards would have done a better job of securing the crime scene, but who cares.

"i'm still tired" said pinkie. we both got up and she went and took a seat. i went over and nudged twilight and stargrazer. they both woke up and looked at me.

"c'mon we can't stay here" i said

"you're probably right." said twilight. after a bit we all got up and stretched. i went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. for some reason my 5 o'clock shadow was more visible than before. i still had the cut on my chest and arm. and i was stained with blood... i just want to go home.

i walked out of the bathroom and back into the main dance area. i went over to the door and kicked it open. everypony was walking around having a normal day with smiles on their faces. if only they had known. we all walked out together.

twilight and stargrazer branched off and headed to twilight's house. i walked pinkie pie back to her house even though it was the complete opposite way i needed to go. we finally got to her house and i walked her in.

"thank you." she said "if you don't mind i want to go to bed."

"alright pinky if you need anything you know where i live."

"goodbye crimson." she said closing the door. i turned around and made my way home. i got to the market and everybody was eating and having fun. i could see a line of ponies at the newspaper stand. i was getting tired so i sat down under a nearby tree. i watched the ponies take their papers.

they all grabbed the paper and they all started reading. i was about to close my eyes until i heard a woman yell from across the street.

"it's him." the pony said. before i could even think a random pony was standing over me asking me questions. i didn't even hear most of them. soon she was joined by the whole plaza. there was literally a crowd of ponies in front of my face. they were all asking questions and eventually they all blurred together into a single noise.

what the fuck was happening why were all these ponies crowding around me. i didn't know why but it was giving me a headache. looked for a way out but the crowd was thick. i spread my wings and flew through the tree. the ponies had started following me. i dived into the outskirts of the everfree forest. i managed to dodge and weave through tree's and came out near my house. i flew to my house and got in.

i don't think anypony followed me. i head upstairs and crashed on my bed. i fell asleep for a few hours. i couldn't stop thinking about what happened. i was really looking forward to having a good week but then some asshole with a knife comes along and fucks it up.

i woke up a few hours later to the sound of my stomach. maybe i can go get a small snack. if nopony has found me now i don't think they will soon. i don't even know what's happening. it's like i'm famous or something. i walked downstairs and opened up my fridge. i grabbed a cupcake and wolfed down on it. after i finished i threw away the wrapper and grabbed some soda from the fridge.

i went over to the living room and sat down on the couch. before i could give myself a chance to think i heard a knocking on the door. that better be somebody i know or i'm going to have to fight off a crowd of ponies. i walked over to the door and opened it.

it was princess celestia. she was standing there at the doorway looking down at me and smiling. what the fuck was she doing here. first the murderer last night, then the crowd of ponies, now the motherfucking princess is at my doorstep. what the actual fuck.

"p-princess what are you doing here." i asked

"i came here to congratulate you hero."

"h-hero, i'm not a hero."

"but you are. you stood up for your friends and you managed to bring a wanted serial killer to justice."

"i thought he was just some street punk."

"he was no ordinary ruffian."

"how do the other ponies already know this."

"word spreads fast in equestria."

"apparently so."

"and i take it that you don't know yet."

"know what?"

"there is a ceremony in your honor today. in fact it's in a few minutes, you should come with me." this was a lot to process. why am i being celebrated today for something i did last night. what the hell. well it's not like i can actually say no to the princess. she started walking down the path and i followed her. we made our way through the town and i noticed it was completely empty. we got to a large stage in the middle of town. everypony in ponyville was there. we snuck behind the back and i stood behind the curtain with the princess and the mayor announced us.

"now fillies and gentlecolts, i present to you ponyvilles finest hero." she said gesturing to me. the princess winked at me and i made my way out. when i was visible to the crowd they roared and cheered my name. i looked down at them and recognized a few faces.

i walked up to mayor mare and stood there. i didn't know what to think. i probably looked ungrateful because i wasn't happy and i wasn't smiling. the crowd was cheering and people were screaming my name. before i knew it the princess was standing next to me with a guard. the guard had a pillow with a golden badge on it.

the crowd went silent and the princess started to speak.

"this stallion is one of the bravest i have ever seen. he has generously donated a vast portion of his wealth to this town and to charity. and as you have all heard just last night he brought down the killer known as the red mamba. he did this not for himself but in the defense of his friends. it is my honor to present crimson blast the medal of honor." she said

she levitated the medal over to me and pinned it to me. i looked down and stared at the medal. i tried to force a smile on my face but i couldn't. soon enough the crowd had started chanting speech. the mayon dragged me over to the podium. i started sweating and i got dizzy. everything became a blur and i almost felt sick. i was struck with images of my family and the face of the pony i had killed.

i felt like i was going to black out. i shut my eyes and pulled myself back to reality. suddenly i was sitting under a tree at the park. i was confused at first but i realised it was just a dream. it was the weirdest fucking dream i've ever had but it felt so real. i shook my head a bit to try and wake myself up. i looked around and saw i was getting strange looks from everypony.

i didn't make much of it so i got up and decided to head home. as i walked past the crowds of ponies a continued to get weird looks. they're not the kind of looks that you should be concerned of, but it looked like everypony was surprised to see me.

i made my way bye when i was stopped by

"oh crimson wait." he said from behind me. i turned around and looked at him.

" what's the problem."

"it's pinkie pie i don't know what happened to her but she's been in her room crying about 2 hours." was i really out for two hours. "can you come talk to her, we saw you walking her home so i thought you would be able to cheer her up."

"of course, lets go." i said. me and took off to sugarcube corner. we ran past the crowds of ponies in the market and made it to the store. he opened the door and let me in. the house was filled with crying. i followed the sound upstairs and saw at the door way.

"oh thank heavens you're here." she said

"what's wrong with pinkie pie." i asked even though i was more aware of the situation then they were.

"oh i don't know dear, she's been like this ever since she came home with you. please talk to her." she said. i walked up to the door and put my ear up to it. i could hear her crying.

"pinkie...pinkie pie it's me." no response only crying. "it's me crimson blast." the crying stopped and the door opened a bit. i looked at her eyes and she stared back at mine. i she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into her room. she closed the door and locked it. before i could speak she jumped on me and held onto me tight.

she started crying again. i didn't fight her i just let her comfort herself. i put my hooves around her and hugged her. she cried a bit longer and her tears helped wash off the blood on my coat.

"what's wrong pinkie."

"i...i don't want to be alone anymore...i'm scared crimson." she said with her head buried in my chest. i was worried that she would suffer from a few mental problems.

"it's alright pinkie i'm not going anywhere." i said rubbing the back of her head. "it's going to be alright."

"i just get lonely." she said with that one sentence i could figure out what's wrong. she must get lonely all the time so she throws party's all the time and has fun with her friends. but after last night's incident when nobody helped her she must have felt so abandoned.

as she sat there crying on me i felt worse about what happened. i couldn't help it. she was very sad i thought maybe i could try and cheer her up.

"i close my eyes...only for a moment and the moments gone..." i started to sing dust in the wind by kansas. "all my dreams...pass before my eyes, a curiosity...Dust in the wind...all they are is dust in the wind"

i saw her pick up her head and look at me. she seemed curious about my singing but i just kept singing and holding her.

"same old song...just a drop of water in an endless sea...all we do...crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see...dust in the wind...all we are is dust in the wind..." i started humming the part of the song that's just violins.

"now don't hang on...nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky...it slips away...all your money won't another minute buy...dust in the wind...all we are is dust in the wind...dust in the wind...everything is dust in the wind."

i looked down and pikie and she had stopped crying. she was asleep now. i picked her up and laid her down in her bed. i pulled the covers over her and rested her head on her pillow. i went over and unlocked the door and opened it.

"shh..." i said to the mr. and "she's sleeping." i walked over to the foot of her bed and sat down.

"what happened last night that got her so worked up." asked

"you'll probably figure that out eventually." i said. something like that can't hide forever. i was thinking of ways to make this better. maybe twilight can help her magic might be able to fix it. i'll wait for pinkie to get up.

"is it ok if i stay here until she wakes up."

"of course dearie." said . they left the room and i stayed next to pinkie. it was about an hour later that she finally woke up.

"crimson are you still here." she said looking around. i could see tears about to well up in her eyes. she was a completely different pony when she was sad.

"it's ok pinkie i'm right here." i said. she looked over. she wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. "c'mon i think we should go see twilight."

"why." she asked

"don't worry about why but i have a feeling."

"alright." she said. we walked downstairs together and out the door. we passed through town. i still got strange looks from the other ponies. i wasn't going to let them get to me. we eventually made it to twilight's house. i knocked on the door and it swung open.

behind the door was stargrazer. he seemed tired. he had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess.

"is twilight here." i asked

"oh yeah come on in." he said opening the door a bit more. we walked in and looked around.

"baby come back to bed." i heard twilight say from the top of the staircase. she walked down and saw us.

"twilight we have guests" said stargrazer.

"oh hello crimson and uh pinkie...how are you guys holding up." she asked

"not good." i said

"well i did anticipate that you would come to me for help eventually, so i picked out a few spells that might help. the most probable one would be to wipe pinkies memory of the incident and replace it with a different one."

"i'm not sure about this." said pinkie.

"well there is another way. but it's a bit of a stretch."

"what is it." i said.

"well the other day i found this ancient tablet etched with runes and symbols." she said walking over to a chest on the other side of the room. she opened it up and pulled out a weird glowing stone. "i believe it will send one of us back in time to relive the past. it's only good for one use and it's a permanent thing so you will have to relive everything from then up until this point in time."

"your full of secrets aren't you." i said

"i've got a few tricks up my sleeve." she said with a smirk. "however the mind erasing spell isn't perfected yet and it could have some undesirable side effects."

"like what." pinkie asked

"well it could backfire and erase important memories or information from your head. or it could reset your memory and you will end up reliving the entire episode while you slip into a coma."

that's enough i didn't need to hear all of that. i grabbed the tablet from twilight's hoof and looked at it.

"so how does this thing work."

"you can't be serious mate." said stargrazer.

"twilight how does it work."

"just smash it on the ground underneath you and think of the time you want to return to."

"crimson don't." pinkie said. i smashed the tablet on the ground and started thinking about last night.

"too late." i said with a smile. the whole room glowed and filled with smoke. the ground under me turned into a swirling vortex of energy. i floated above it and strands of light came out of the middle and wrapped around my body. i freaked out at first because i didn't understand it.

they pulled me through the floor and down the spiraling vortex. i could see everybody's faces growing farther and farther until there was nothing but darkness. i opened my eyes and i was staring at the ceiling of the club. i looked around and everybody was sleeping.

twilight was resting against stargrazer and vinyl scratch was resting on my chest. i quickly looked around and i saw pinkie pie sleeping on a table peacefully wrapped in a ball. i was relieved that i wasn't too late.

i got up and slowly pushed vinyl scratches head off of me. she woke up.

"hey what's the matter." she asked.

"nothing i'm just getting some water, go back to sleep." i said getting on all fours. i walked away and into the kitchen. i grabbed the butcher knife and looked around. i walked over and went to the door. it was still closed. he must not be here yet. that's good.

i put my ear up to the door and i could hear someone fumbling with the handle. i quickly ran behind the counter and peered over. i looked at the door through a few pots and pans.

the door creaked open and the pony from last night came in. he silently closed the door behind him. although he didn't close it all the way. i saw him duck behind a rack of something. i looked over to the entrance and saw pinkie pie walking in. she went over to the fridge and opened it up. she grabbed a cupcake and started eating it. i watched as the suspect came out from his perch and sneaked up behind pinkie pie.

i jumped up from over the counter. as he had grabbed her she started screaming but he put a hoof over her mouth. i jumped at him and tackled him to the ground. he rolled over on top of me and started trying to punch me in the face. i put my back hooves to his stomach and bucked him into a bunch of pots and dishes.

he howled in pain and raised his arm. he threw his knife at me and it stuck into my shoulder. dammit not again. i howled in pain. i didn't pay much attention to it and i ripped the knife out without thinking. the pain was excruciating. i yelped in pain again and fell to the ground. he got up and was covered in shards of glass.

i ran over to tackle him again but he stopped me and threw me into the pile of broken glasses and dishes. i yelled when i felt the shards of glass stabbing me in the back. this is definitely not going as well as last time. he grabbed a nearby cleaver and went to chop my head off with it. i moved my head to the left and the cleaver stuck into the ground.

he tried to pull it up but i took one of my arms and brought it down on his. the bone snapped and he let go of the cleaver and clutched his arm. i yelled in pain again. i took the opportunity to pounce on him and land a few strikes to his face. he hit me one more time in the face and i fell off of him.

"get off of him you son of a bitch." i heard. before i could move vinyl scratch had tackled the other pony to the ground. he rolled around and threw her off of him into a rack of trays and plates. he went over and climbed on top of her. he started hitting her. i ran back over and tackled him and grabbed him by the neck. i put him in a choke hold. he elbowed me in the gut over and over again.

i held on until he headbut me in the face. i stumbled back and he bucked me into the countertop. i got back up and grabbed a knife. he jumped on me. i stabbed him in the leg with the knife and he yelled in pain and stumble away. i dropped the knife and grabbed a skillet. while he was dazed i cracked him over the head with the skillet and he dropped to the ground.

i dropped the skillet and it banged on the ground. i could feel the adrenaline in my body depleting. i blacked out and hit the ground. i woke up later near the fire surrounded by my friends.

"well look who's awake...sleep well hero." said twilight. there's that word again.

"who the hell was that asshole." i said sitting up.

"my guess is he's that guy from the paper."

"you mean the rapist."

"the very one." she replied.

"where's pinkie pie and vinyl...are they alright." i asked looking around the room.

"yes they are fine pinkie's over there with vinyl. she got pretty beat up but not as bad as you."

"wheres the other pony."

"we tied him to a chair over there... we also put a gag on him because he wouldn't shut up." i looked over and saw the pony tied to a chair with a gag on him. he was grunting and pulling trying to get free. i looked over and saw pinkie pie sitting next to vinyl scratch who was bruised up and bleeding from the nose.

"pinkie said that if you hadn't pounced on him she would have probably been hurt or worse." said twilight. my job here was done now i need to just live on with my life.

i rolled around onto my back and felt an instant shot of incredible pain. i yelped and rolled back around. i looked back and there were shards of glass sticking out of my back.

"yeah we got some of the glass out of your spine but some of those might hurt but if we don't remove them and get you bandaged up you'll probably die from blood loss before the royal guard get here." said stargrazer.

"wonderful."

"alright just bite on this" twilight said handing me a rag. i bit on the rag and closed my eyes. she clenched a piece of glass with her teeth and yanked it out. i yelled into the rag. i grabbed another and pulled it out. it wasn't that deep in so i could handle it. stargrazer poured some water on a cloth and washed off my wounds.

after about half an hour later we finally got all the glass out of my back twilight washed off my back and bandaged it up. they were all around bandages like the time i sprained my wings a few months ago but this time both of my wings were free. we bandaged up the rest of my wounds. i still had a few cuts and scrapes here and there but nothing big.

i think all of my groaning into a rag finally woke up vinyl scratch because i looked over and she was rubbing her head. i walked over to her and pinkie and sat down.

"thanks for saving my dumb ass." vinyl said looking at me.

"no you saved my dumb ass." i said. she giggled a bit. i looked over to pinkie who was putting bandages around vinyls leg.

"hey pinkie are you alright."

"yeah i'm fine just a bit shaken but i'll be fine."

"good." i said. i much rather prefer this outcome instead of the other one. i got up and walked over to the pony who attacked pinkie. "you got a name punk." i said taking out his gag.

"it's rover." he said

i grabbed a bit of the rope that was left and tied his legs together. i undid the rope binding him to the chair and he fell to the ground.

"what are you doing." asked twilight.

"i'm not going to let him bleed out and die." i said looking at his back that was also filled with glass. i put the gag back on him and started pulling out the glass. he yelled into his gag multiple times. i washed off his wounds and put bandages on him. i threw him back on the chair and tied him back up. he managed to spit his gag out.

"why did you do that huh asshole does my pain excite you."

"you wish, i'm not going to let you just bleed out and die, besides it would haunt me forever." i put the gag back on him and tightened it. i went over to the fire and sat down. after a while there was a knock on the door.

i opened it and it was the royal guard. you probably know what happens next. they take the bad guy away and tell us that he is to be hung at dawn. it helped to know that i wasn't going to be the one to kill him it also helped to know that pinkie's alright.

i went back over to the fire and watched the flames. twilight waved goodbye to the guards and looked over at me. she and pinkie came over and sat down while stargrazer went to go get vinyl.

"hey..." she said "are you alright you seemed troubled."

"yeah what's with the downy face." pinkie side in a chipper tone. "we need to turn that frown upside down." she said rearranging my face to make a smile. "there we go much better." she was adorable when she was all innocent and fun. i couldn't help but laugh.

"so what now." i said.

"i don't know about you guys but i'm tired." said vinyl limping over with stargrazer.

"yeah i think we should turn in."

"maybe we should go home instead." i said.

"you really want to walk home from here in this weather." said stargrazer.

"the guards got here didn't they."

"i know but they're royal guards, their wearing magical armour that adapts to their surrounding." said twilight

"you always think of something." i remarked

"call it a hobby." she replied

"i guess you're right anyway, i'm too tired to walk home." i said laying back. eventually we all laid back and stared at the ceiling. twilight snuggled up with stargrazer and i sat against a wall. pikie laid in a ball only a few feet from my hooves. vinyl limped over and took a seat next to me. she sat against the wall with me.

"you know i said this before but you're a pretty cool dude. how did you learn to fight and take hits like that."

"i guess you could say i'm ex-military."

"no shit...thats awesome."

"i guess."

"well you're cool in my books so if you ever need me to lighten up a party just find me."

"i'll remember that." i said. i started to get tired. vinyl rested her head against me and started to doze off. i was getting tired too. i closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. i was already starting to feel better inside.

****

-Authors Note: me again holding up to my promise from the last authors note (didn't read it oh well i guess you won't know now.) anyway. i think the story is coming along nicely. next episode is winter wrap up i promise. that also means rarity is coming back. there's going to be singing and dancing and the wrapping up of winter and mayhaps a happy ending ;). until next time fellow reader. - End of Note-


	14. Chapter 14: The After Party

I woke up later the next day. I looked down and saw vinyl resting against me. The only light coming through was the dim sunlight from the snow covered windows and the glowing ashes of the dead fire. I looked around some more and noticed I was the only one who had woken up yet. I sat up and rubbed my head. I gently leaned vinyl against the wall but I guess she woke up.

"wah...hey mornin." she said rubbing one eye.

" mornin." I said. "sleep well" I said trying to force a smile through my tired face.

" I guess" she said. i chuckled a bit. i stood up and cracked my neck. i looked around and took a step and felt the ground get fuzzy. i looked down and i was standing on pinkies tail. she didn't seem to have noticed. i kept walking and i went to the door. i opened it up and got a peek outside. it was very early nobody was outside.

the entire town was covered in snow. even the roads that meant it was so early the earth ponies haven't cleaved a path through the roads. i closed the door and looked back. twilight and stargrazer were getting up too.

"mornin'." i said.

"ugh... morning" said twilight.

"good morning everypony." i heard from across the room. it was pinkie pie who was already perked up and bouncing around the room. how does she do that. oh well i'm not even going to try and understand. i walked over and helped twilight get up and fix her hair.

"i want to go home." she said.

"me too." said vinyl from the other side of the room. she was struggling to get up. i got her up and helped her. i hadn't noticed it but i was limping a bit myself. i helped vinyl get up.

"c'mon" i said "i'll help you get home."

"thanks dude." she said.

"yeah i'm sure is wondering where i am."

"yeah and i'm tired." said twilight.

i walked to the door and opened it. and we all left. vinyl and i followed behind pinkie while twilight and stargrazer left at the door. eventually we came to sugarcube corner and pinkie said goodbye and went inside. me and vinyl continued to her house.

"thanks for taking me home, and again for saving my ass."

"don't mention it."

"no worries."

we continued to walk to her house and we finally managed to get there. i went for the door but it was locked.

"just knock my roomy octavia should be home."

i knocked on the door and waited. the door swung open and a half asleep mare stood at the doorway. she had dark grey curly hair and a brown coat. she was a bit off a mess but it was early in the morning and she probably just woke up.

"hey tavi." said vinyl.

"for celestia's sake vinyl its 4:30 in the morning."

"sorry about that."

"what the hell happened to you. did you get in another bar fight, and who is this, he better not be staying over because he looks worse than you."

"tavi just listen."

"i don't even want to hear it but if he's staying you two better be quiet i need to get some practice in." she walked away from the door and walked into a different room. vinyl started to blush.

"sounds like you have lots of fun."

"shut up." she said punching me in the arm smiling.

"if you want to came in you can but you're not getting lucky."

"yeah thanks for the offer but i'm taken." i said walking in with her.

"well lucky you, want some food cause i'm starving."

"me too." i said. i could feel my stomach rumbling.

"so you're roomy doesn't seem too concerned about your health."

"don't worry about that i've come home with worse, besides she's not bad. we usually fight a lot about our music and other things, but don't be fooled we are pretty good friends."

"sounds complicated."

"you get used to it."

we walked into the kitchen and i helped her make breakfast. i was still a bit tired so i ended up burning myself a few times on the stovetop. all she did was laugh when i freaked out every time i burned myself.

"you're funny." she said.

"not trying to be funny i really burned myself."

"your fine, you took a knife to the shoulder suck it up."

"says the mare who got tackled once."

"hey, he twisted my hoof and beat me."

"excuses." i said rolling my eyes.

"whatever just hurry up i'm starving."

"alright alright. here put this in your face." i said handing her a plate of scrambled eggs.

"finally...food." she put her face into the pile of eggs and dug in. i made myself a plate and ate too.

"hope you like those eggs because you finished them off fast." i heard a voice say from the doorway. it was octavia. she walked into the room and poured a cup of coffee.

"octavia is it?" i asked whipping some of the egg from my face.

"yes."

"nice to meet you." i said.

"likewise." she said taking a small sip of the coffee. she was pretty snooty.

"don't mind her she finally lightens up around noon."

"go back to your food." she said.

"already ate it." vinyl said waving her plate around. i grabbed it from her and put the dishes in the sink. i washed my hooves and sat back down.

"hmm this is the most civilized pony you've brought home yet."

"he's not here for what you think tavi." said vinyl blushing. i started blushing too knowing i was the center of this awkward conversation.

"shame. maybe he could have rubbed off on you."

"we have known each other for 16 years and you never rub off on me."

"because i don't rub up against you like the other stallions." she said with a witty smile and she walked away.

"at least i can get a guy." she said yelling at her as she walked into the other room. " i hate it when she does that."

"what leaves on a joke and embarasses you."

"something like that."

"if it makes you feel better i don't think less of you."

"i guess that helps."

"cool...so uh...what do you want to do now."

"i'm tired and i wanna go to bed."

"yeah me too guess i should head home." i said heading for the door i grabbed the knob but vinyl grabbed me and pulled me away.

"uhh...why don't you crash here...i mean...uhm...its probably a long walk and all." i was catching on to her game. she was right though i live on the other side of ponyville.

"alright i guess i can crash here."

"sweet. my room's upstairs follow me." i followed her upstairs and down a hallway. she opened one of the doors and let me in. her room was pretty big and she had a sound system in it, sweet.

"so this is where the magic happens."

"in and out of the bed." i said jokingly.

"shut up." she said nudging me.

"alright sorry, i'll be right back i have to use it."

"have fun." she said giggling. "third door on the left." i walked into the hallway and down to the end. i went to push open the bathroom doors when i felt somebody behind me.

"you're by far the most civilized person to step into this house other than me." i turned around to see octavia leaning in the doorway with a smile on her face. "she usually brings home some party freak out of the gutter. but you're different."

"oh hello octavia."

"hope you're making yourself at home." she said walking towards me. she stopped when she was inches away from my face. i backed up against the wall. i was sweating bullets and i don't know why.

"what's the matter shy." she said. she leaned in and planted a huge kiss on my lips. my eyes flew open and i pushed her off of me.

"the fuck get off me."

"come on why can't we be civilized together." she said with a lusty look on her face.

"i wouldn't mess with him octavia." said vinyl. "that is one seriously crazy son of a bitch."

"oh please he couldn't be like that."

"oh c'mon just punch her in the face." she said looking at me.

"i'm not going to hit her."

"see he's more of a gentlecolt than you thought" she said pulling me into her. she tried to kiss me again but i pulled away.

"don't touch me." i said pushing her into a wall. she hit her head and stumbled a bit. she looked up at me and she was shocked at what i had done. i was a bit uneasy about it too. "i'm...i'm sorry...i."

"just please be quiet...its my fault for trying to find somepony who would actually want to be with me."

"tavi are you alright."

"i'm going back to bed it's too early for this shit." she said walking into the doorway next to her and slamming it shut.

"that was a bit harsh dude." vinyl said walking over to me.

"i get like that sometimes. its a mental thing."

"like i said you're one crazy son of a bitch." she said patting me on the back. "why don't you go take your piss then come to bed."

"yeah i am pretty tired." i said. i walked into the bathroom and did my business. i walked back into the hall and into vinyls room. she was in her bed resting her head on her arms looking up at the ceiling.

"so where am i sleeping." i asked already aware that i would probably be sharing a bed with her.

"theres room in my bed. hop on in." i walked over and hopped up and under the covers. her bed was very soft. i laid on my side and tried to shut my eyes. she used her magic to shut the open door and close the blinds. it wasn't completely dark but it was moody.

vinyl turned around and hugged me from behind. she pulled me close to her and rested her head on my neck. i drifted off to sleep. it was about a few hours later that i was woken up to music. it sounded like a cello. it must be octavia playing. i see now why they bicker about their music.

the music was soft and soothing. it eventually put me right back to sleep. i kept dreaming about rarity. i couldn't wait till she comes back home. eventually i woke up to a dim light peering through the shades. i looked around and spotted a clock on the end table. it was 10:48. i nudged vinyl a bit to try and get her up.

"ugh five for minutes."

"c'mon get up."

"i don't wanna." i went to nudge her again but i felt a stitch in my side. it stung like hell. it never did occur to me that i should probably take her to the hospital. i should probably go too. "ugh my leg." she said curling in a ball

"come on lets go to the hospital."

"ugh...do we have to."

"do you want to sit here and wallow in your own pain."

"no."

"then lets go." i said helping her out of the bed. i helped her walk down the stairs and held the front door open.

"tavi i'm going to the hospital don't clean my room while i'm gone." she shouted into the house. we waited and no response. i closed the door and we left.

"don't clean my room?" i asked.

"she can be a neat freak." she responded we made our way through town. it was still crappy outside and most ponies were inside and cozying up to their fireplaces. just seeing the fires through pony's windows made me shiver from the cold.

we eventually made it to the hospital and i went to the desk. i sat vinyl in a chair and went over to the desk. there was a white unicorn with red hair up in a bun. she looked at me and smiled.

"hello sir how can i help you."

"my friend over there needs help." i said pointing to vinyl.

"alright then," she said walking from behind the desk and over to vinyl "come with me deary." said the nurse and she walked to the other door. i came over to vinyl and helped her get up. we followed the nurse. she led us into another room and she sat vinyl down on a hospital bed.

time passed and the nurse ran a few tests on her. x-rays and such. me and vinyl waited in the room together and made small talk while the nurse ran the results. after a few minutes she came back into the room with a clip board glowing by her side.

"well i have good news." she said. that was a relief. "it's not broken just sprained. it'll be a bit sore for a few days so just take it easy and you'll be fine in a week."

"thanks nurse redheart." said vinyl.

"and as for you." said nurse redheart.

"me?"

"yes you. i've seen you limping and those bandages have fresh blood stains on them...you need to come with me so i can help you."

"trust me i'm fine."

"i'll be the judge of that." she said grabbing my hoof and pulling me through the doorway. "and for you missy...go home and rest."

"i'll meet you later i guess." i said while being dragged down the hallway.

"yeah just drop by when you're done...kay."

"alright." i said. vinyl turned around and headed down the hallway. i pulled my arm away from the nurse and walked behind her. she lead me to another room and pushed me in.

"alright honey just hop up on the table and lay on your stomach and we'll get those bandages off."

i did what she asked and hopped up on the table. i laid down and the cut the bandages with some scissors. she removed the bandages and looked at my back.

"my. my that must have been one accident. you still have shards of glass stuck in your back."

"yeah it was quite an accident."

"alright hold still and bite on this." she said handing me a rag.

"wait...what." but before she answered she grabbed one of the pieces of glass from my back and yanked it out. i yelled and bit into the rag. she threw the piece into a dish of water. the water turned a light shade of red from the blood.

after a while of extracting more glass from my spine she finally flipped me over on my side and put gauze on my back. she bandaged it up again and flipped me over on my back.

"now tell me if any of this hurts." she said. she took a little mallet from a bag and started to tap my joints with it. she went over to my chest and started to tap on my ribs with it. she hit one of my ribs and i winced a bit.

"gah right there."

"alright come with me." she said. i followed her into the examination room. stand behind this on you're forehooves. i stood up and she pulled an x-ray sheet in front of me. she pulled a lever and there was a bright flash. "alrighty then have a seat and the i'll go fetch the negatives from the other room."

i took a seat like she told me and waited. a minute later she came back into the room and pinned them to the board.

"good news is that there isn't any more glass in you...bad news is that you do have a few cracked ribs. and there is a large tear in you't connective tissue right here." she came over to me and pulled up my arm. she pointed out the place where i got stabbed. i hadn't really bothered with that

"now it's not fatal but it was close to completely cutting off all nervous contact with the brain... a few centimeters closer and you would have lost all feeling in your entire hoof."

"well damn"

"you're very lucky."

"i guess i am."

"alright now you're free to go just take it easy for a while and stay on the ground for the next three days."

"will do." i said waving by. i headed out the door and wandered through ponyville. i eventually made my way back to vinyls house. i walked up to the door and knocked. the door swung open and octavia had answered the door. it was kind of awkward.

"oh well hello...octavia."

"oh it's you...if you want to come in and see vinyl i can't stop you i guess."

"well thank you." i said walking in. i went to say something to her but she had already left for the other room. she was pretty upset. i let it be for now, maybe she will cool down. i walked up the stairs and to vinyls room. i knocked on the door.

"hey it's me." i said. the door swung open and vinyl smiled

"sup dude how'd it go."

"apparently i fell in a few more dishes than i thought."

"that sucks. but come on in i was working on my next song." i walked over as she hurried over to her mix table. she was fiddling with the controls and all that other stuff. i never understood how modern music was made.

"hey you got any musical talent in ya."

"i play the guitar."

"woah dude skills. i only thought unicorns could play those. so you're one of those pegasi that can play with their wings."

"uhm...sure."

"sweet wait right here." she said rushing over to her closet. she rummaged around a bit and came back with a guitar and amp. " go on play something."

"uhm alright."

"i picked up the guitar." i used my wing for the chords and u used my hoof to strum. to be honest i have done this once before with just my hooves. it was a mess. but it felt natural to play with my wing.

i strummed the guitar and it was perfectly in tune. i started to play a few chords and worked my way into AC DC's rock and roll train.

"livin' easy...lovin free. a season ticket on a one-way ride. asking nothing, leave me be taking everything in my stride...don't need a reason, don't need a right...there ain't nothing i'd rather do...going down...party time, my friends are gonna be there too."

i started hitting the frame of the bed to amplify a drum sound for the buildup. and now here comes the chorus.

"i'm on the highway to hell... on the highway to hell...i'm on the highway to hell..." i played a little bit more but before i could kick into the next verse octavie kicked open the door and scowled at us.

"would you please STOP WITH THAT INFERNAL INSTRUMENT." she said and as quick as she arrived she slammed the door and left.

"nice dude."

"thanks."

"did you make that song...i don't think i've ever heard it before."

"yeah sure."

"so what else can you play." she said rummaging through her closet and taking out an acoustic guitar. this was more of my style. "i usually break this bad boy out when octavia yells at me." i grabbed it from her hand and strummed it. it was a bit out of tune but i quickly tuned it and it was perfect. i went to play another AC DC song but with the acoustic.

i strummed the chords hard and the strings broke and lashed me across the face. i clenched the part of my face that was bleeding and dropped the guitar. i fell to the ground and clutched my face.

"ahh shit." said vinyl "oh fuck are you alright."

"oh damn it that hurts like a bitch." i said rolling over on my back still holding my face. i brought my hooves away from my cheek and looked them. they were soaked in blood.

"oh shit dude...that looks ugly."

"ohh damn it." i said still looking at my blood covered hands. " what does it look like."

"well it looks like the three smallest string cut across your face and the fourth one just kinda grazed ya." she said holding my face to the light.

"do you have any rubbing alcohol."

"i only have the drinking kind will that do."

"no."

"wait i do have a bottle of .90 proof vodka."

"yeah that'll do."

i got up on three legs still with one holding my face together. we walked downstairs and into the kitchen. i put my head over the sink and turned on the faucet. i drenched my face and watched the red water flow down the drain.

"here." she said handing me the bottle of vodka. i took some of it and poured it on my face. i winced a bit from the pain and stopped pouring.

"thats gonna need stitches. wait here." i sat down and my face started to bleed again. she came back with a needle and some medical stitching. she started to stitch up my wounds.

"how do you know how to stitch a wound." i asked as she used her magic to sew my face shut.

"when you get in as many bar fights as i do you can't keep paying hospital bills. i know how to reset broken bones and do CPR."

"nice."

"there all done." she said cutting the string and tying it. "oh...i think one of the strings cut your ear open."

"did it really." i asked feeling my ear. i got to a spot near the middle of it and it stung.

"yeah but it looks cool." she said levitating a mirror over to my face. i saw my ear. it wasn't bleeding but she was right it was just cut into. it was a pretty ugly gash right now but she was right it did look cool.

"you're right it does look cool."

"feel better now."

"i don't know maybe if we share that bottle of vodka i might feel better."

"i was just thinking the same thing."

"wonderfull." i said walking over and grabbing the bottle. i handed it to her and she took a swig. she handed it back and i did the same. we talked and passed the bottle around until it was empty. i was already drunk off my ass.

"what...what kind of vodka was this again *hic*" i asked

"i don't *hic* i don't know" she said. i looked at the bottle and read the label. i just laughed i don't know why but i found it funny at the time that i downed half a bottle of ninety proof vodka. vinyl started laughing too.

"what are you two ingrates laughing about." said octavia standing at the doorway. i didn't answer i just laughed a bit and pointed at the label of the bottle. she came over, picked it up and read it. i stopped chuckling so she could laugh but it was hard to hold it in.

"are you trying to kill yourself." she said in an angry but nervous voice. she also sounded a bit scared. i looked over and saw vinyl's head just resting on the table. i got up and stumbled over.

"come on vinny we need to. ugh...*hic*...well i don't know." i said then i started to laugh again. i shook her a bit and she fell off the chair and hit the ground. she was completely unconscious. i knew this wasn't good but i was too drunk to notice. i went to pick her up but my legs gave in and i hit the ground. i tried getting up but i blacked out.

i'm not sure how long i was out but i woke up to the sight of a white tiled ceiling. i was in the hospital. god dammit why does this keep happening. i looked around and on my side i saw rarity. i was shocked.

"oh god i'm dead aren't I." i said staring back at the ceiling.

"no baby you're not dead thankfully,"

"i'm not." i asked. she smiled at me and her eyes glistened. she grabbed my hoof and held it in her own hooves. her touch was soft and warm. it really was her. "honey what are you doing here."

"twilight told me about what happened, from when i left and up till now. when i heard what happened i left early." she jumped up on the gurney and hugged me. she held me tight i could just barely breathe. "what you did was very heroic and i'm proud of you."

"thanks baby." i said hugging her back.

"twilight's outside she said she wanted to speak to you in private." she said letting go.

"don't go far." i said trying to reach her again as she left.

"i won't" she said as she opened the door and let twilight in. twilight walked over and smiled.

"feeling better."

"oh absolutely." i said with a small smile on my face.

"alright well we have to talk."

"about what."

"well you see yesterday i went home and i wanted to do some research on an ancient tablet i found." when she mentioned the tablet i started to sweat was she on to me. "but when i looked in the chest i kept it in, it wasn't there. that could already mean i used it."

"i don't...uhm"

"so do you want to tell me when and why i sent you back."

"uhhh...i...fuck." i said sitting up against the wall sweating bullets.

"i don't care that you used it i generally want to know what went wrong and when you came back."

"well i used it to go back to the night of the party because the outcome of the break in was...undesirable...for a lot of ponies."

"so was this outcome better."

"i'm going to have to say yes." i said relaxing.

"well whatever you did i'm sure it was the right choice." she said smiling and leaving room. i sat back in my bed and rarity came back in. she hopped up and i scooched over so she could sit down next to me.

"you need to get some rest dear."

"but i'm not tired." i said. she started humming a tune to a lullaby. she started rubbing her hoof through my hair. it was soothing my eyes grew heavy and i closed them. she must have gotten tired too because she laid down next to me and hugged me. i drifted off back to sleep.

we were immediately woken up by one of the nurses.

"are you crimson blast" she asked

"yes that's me." i said turning around and standing up.

"well you're all checked out and free to go. have a great day." she said skipping away. i got up and so did rarity. we made our way out of the hospital together and walked back to my house because it was closer.

we walked inside my house and i brought her upstairs. we both jumped into my bed and cuddled. she was still warm and soft even though we were just outside in the cold.

"i'm glad you're back rarity."

"and just in time too" she said "tomorrow's winter wrap up" that was a bit startling to me since the last time i was awake winter wrap up was in two days. oh well i'm sure it's fine. i pulled rarity into a hug and we laid there together. i closed my eyes and drifted to sleep...i was so excited for tomorrow.

-Authors note: alright i know i promised this one would be winter wrap up but i thought this was a pretty good chapter don't worry there's no possible way i can not do winter wrap up next chapter. and for those of you who care vinyl scratch and octavia will appear numerous times. mostly in the filler chapters. after winter wrap up i think i'll skip right to the next episode but that depends on how much time passes between the two. anyway thank you for reading. -End of Note-


	15. Chapter 15: Winter Wrapup

Woohoo muthafuckers. winter wrap up is here. i was excited. i don't really know why because i hear it's a lot of hard work, but i'm pretty into that thing. i jumped out of bed almost knocking over rarity and almost falling down the stairs. i opened the door and looked outside. i don't know why but it was nice out.

"well you're sure excited."

"am i ever."

"alright well i need to go home and get my vest. and you go clean up it doesn't start for another hour."

"alright i'll see you there." i said walking her out the door. as soon as she left i closed the door and bolted upstairs. i took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. i rushed downstairs and grabbed my vest. i put it on and had a quick bite. and just like that i was gone. i spread my wings and flew over to the town center.

almost all of ponyville was there i looked around and saw a few of my friends. i heard some music in the background and suddenly all the ponies started singing.

"winter wrap up, winter wrap up" they all chanted. i couldn't help but sing along. i started flying around and singing with other ponies and it was so much fun. "winter wrap up, winter wrap up...let's finish our holiday cheer...winter wrap up winter wrap up."

"alright, alright. now everypony settle down." i heard the mayor say from the podium on the stage. "now you all know you're teams. so head over to your team captain for an assignment."

"alright pegasi over here for you're jobs." looked behind me and it was rainbow dash hovering near a few clouds. all the pegasi with blue vests flew over to her and got their jobs. i flew over and waited for mine.

all the pony got there jobs and flew off into groups. only i was left with rainbow dash. she turned around and looked surprised to see me. i had a strange feeling about this.

"well if it isn't you." she said with a smile. "i was wondering if you were gonna show up or not."

"so what's my job."

"you're with me...we're clearing the skies around ponyville." she said.

"sweet."

"c'mon lets go." she said leading me up towards a patch of clouds. "clear the area over the park and meet me a sugar cube corner."

"yes, ma'am" i said with a smirk.

she flew away over to the other side of the park and over sugar cube corner. i didn't actually know how to clear clouds. i looked over to see if i could watch rainbow do it. all she did was buck the cloud and it evaporated, interesting.

i flew up to a nearby cloud. it was a bit big so i didn't know if i could do it. i reared back and bucked it. a pit of the cloud evaporated and left a smaller cloud. this was going to be easy. i kicked the cloud again and it was gone. it was a bit fun so i giggled a bit. i kicked a few more clouds and eventually i started laughing.

i flew around laughing my ass of destroying clouds in my wake. i stopped when i heard a voice below me calling my name. i swooped down and saw twilight staring up at me.

"having fun." she said. i blushed from the embarrassment. i noticed that she wasn't wearing a vest.

"hey twi...where's you're vest."

"i don't have one...i'm walking around seeing if anypony needs help...but it looks like you're all set."

"alright go see if you're coltfriend stargrazer needs help." she blushed a bit when i mentioned the word coltfriend.

"he's gone south to fetch the southern birds."

"well that sucks...anyway i have to clear these clouds, so good luck with your mission or whatever." i said waving as i floated back into the sky. she waved back and walked through the park. i continued to fly through the clouds and destroy them in my trail.

i had finally finished clearing the park and i watched as the sun shined through and started to melt the snow. feeling accomplished i headed over to sugarcube corner to meet up with rainbow dash.

"ah, good you're here." she said kicking one last cloud and flying over to me. "fluttershy just told me that all the animals are up and out of their homes near the main road."

"well lets go then." i said and with that we were off. we got to the main road and started clearing clouds. after a bit i eventually noticed twilight and pinkie at one of the lakes. pinkie was ice skating around and twilight was kinda wiping out all over the place. i noticed that rainbow dash was laughing behind me. i turned around and saw her laughing at twilight

"why don't you go help twi...i'll finish the clouds."

"alright." i said flying down to twilight. i touched down on the ice and a spinning tornado of pink and purple flew right by me and crashed into a bank of snow. i almost laughed my ass off. i slid over to them and helped them up.

"ugh i don't think i'm cut out for skating." said twilight.

"here let me see those." i said.

"i didn't know you could ice skate." said pinkie. twilight took off the skates and pushed them over to me.

"well i can't" i said popping them on my hooves. i slowly made my way through the ice. i eventually got the hang of it and i was skating all over the place. "see it's not that hard." i said whizzing by twilight.

"you just love to show off don't you."

"you can call it an old pastime."

"i guess it is." she said. i t know how to stop. i i tried stopping like i watch the other people do it by turning really hard but i only crashed into a snowbank. i removed the snow from my face and saw twilight and pinkie giggling.

"alright alright, lesson learned..." i said getting up from the bank. " i have to go clear clouds now...see you girls later."

"bye." they both said as i spread my wings and flew back into the cloud layer.

"nice wipeout down there dude."

"yeah thanks." i said kicking a few clouds. after all the clouds were finished here i floated over to rainbow dash to get some more work.

"alright i want you to head over to the town hall and clear those clouds and i'll clear the ones near ponyville lake." i took off towards the town hall and rainbow dash went to the lake. i made it to town hall and started kicking away clouds.

after a bit i noticed rarity down below sitting at a table weaving some sort of basket. i grabbed a bit of cloud and hid in it. i slowly made my way down to her in the cloud camouflage.

i floated right next to her. she noticed me and started giggling.

"hey...hey pretty lady...do you know where i might be able to find the lovely rarity." i said in a funny voice.

"present." she said playing along with my game. she was still smiling and giggling.

"i bring a message from the most handsome stallion in all of ponyville." i said still keeping up the funny voice. she started to laugh again and i poked my head out of the clouds. i planted a kiss on her lips and she kissed back.

i put my arms around her and popped out of the cloud. i floated it down a bit until it was almost at ground level. i pulled my head away from hers and took a seat on the cloud.

"so whatcha doin." i said.

"well i am making the most gorgeous nests for the birds when they come back from the south."

"they all look so beautiful...except for that one." i said pointing at a messy and unkempt pile of twigs and ribbon that almost resembled a bird's nest. it did look pretty bad.

"oh that's twilight's...she was here earlier."

"i've seen her trying to help everywhere today."

"i know she didn't get her vest." she said. "now don't you have clouds to kick or something." she said

"alright i'll get to work." i said. i lept off my cloud perch and kicked it . the cloud vanished and i floated down to rarity. i gave her a little peck on the cheek and flew back into the clouds. i kicked away all of the clouds over town hall and let the sun shine through. i was soon greeted by rainbow dash who flew over to check my work.

"not bad kid...you should consider joining the weather team."

"maybe." i said. i didn't know there was a weather team, but since she mentioned it it did sound interesting. that's a story for another day however.

"alright i need you to head over to sweet apple acres."

"alright."

"and don't get tired the apple orchard is the largest place in ponyville."

"alright" i said flying away to the orchard. i eventually made it to the orchard and noticed applejack waving to me from the ground. i flew down and landed next to her.

"howdy partner." she said tiping her stetson to me.

"hey applejack." i said.

"so rainbow dash put you in charge of the orchard this year huh."

"i guess so."

"alright well i'm going to tell you where to start."

"alright." i said.

"i need y'all to head over to that patch of dry land and let the sun shine on it. we just planted the new seeds there and we need all the sun we can get. so head over and come back when yer done."

"roger that." i said taking off towards the clouds. i started kicking away clouds. it was pretty hard since these clouds were a bit tough. come to think of it this was probably a really great work out.

i started walking on the top of the clouds and destroying them under me. i started singing a song to pass the time that i thought was quite appropriate.

"i'm walking on sunshine, aaahaaah...walking on sunshine, oh yeah." i sang. i didn't really know any other lines to that song but i was having fun. after the clouds were finally destroyed i noticed that there was still a vast ocean of clouds around me. this was going to be tough.

i flew around and spotted applejack. i went to fly down to her when i noticed twilight pushing one of the snow plows. that didn't seem right. i looked closely and noticed a small purple glow around the plow. eventually the plow sped up and started to form a huge ball of snow. i watched it as it started to swallow other ponies.

it headed for applejack next. i dove down to try and push her out of the way but i wasn't quick enough and we were both engulfed by the snow.

"twilight..." said applejack with her head sticking out of the ball of snow. "you used magic didn't you." i could obviously tell that applejack was pissed at twilight. after a few seconds the ball of snow crashed into one of the piles of snow. it took me at least two minutes to free myself from the wreckage. i finally tunneled my way out and shook off the snow.

i looked over to see that the collision sent snow all over the place. now all the ponies have to push it away again. i looked over at twilight who was walking away with her head hanging low.

"alright no more precision crimson i need these clouds gone now if we ever want to catch up." said applejack

"yes ma'am." i said flying into the cloud layer. i started wearing away at the clouds. after about an hour later i finally cleared the clouds. i looked down and noticed everyone was gone. i flew around to see that everypony had gathered in the center of town and they were arguing.

"come on my fellow ponies...we can't get behind like last year." said mayor mare "for as long as i can remember ponyville has always been late in wrapping up winter."

"we need the weather team to clear the clouds so the snow can melt." said applejack.

"no you can't..." said fluttershy "not all the animals are awake yet and the melting snow will flood their homes."

"and my team is still out getting the bird's" said rainbow dash. eventually the entire town of ponyville was engulfed in a heated argument. i didn't have anything to say so i stayed quiet. i was about to say something to get everypony to shut up but before i could twilight took the stage and did it for me

"everypony listen up..." she said. everyone went quiet and looked at her. "we aren't going to get anything done if we keep bickering like this. we need to be organized and i'm just the pony for the job."

she eventually came up with a few ideas on how we could make things faster. they were actually very smart. everyone took formation. i was in the air as the sky clearing team. when twilight blew the whistle the plan came into action

a series of bells were sounded off to wake up the animals. when they were out of their nests we were sent off. with at least fifty pegasi including myself we tore through the sky and annihilated all the clouds. the warmth of the sun practically melted the snow instantly.

the ice cutters had cut the ice into a grid pattern so it would melt faster. rarity had some help making the bird's nests and just in time for the other pegasi to come back with the southern bird's. the bird's quickly made themselves at home in the beautiful nests. when we were finished ripping through the sky and clearing all of the clouds i touched down to the crowd around twilight.

"thanks to twilight sparkle here. ponyville has finally wrapped up winter on time for the first time in many years..." she said. i watched as another pony handed a vest to the mayor "and it is with great pleasure that i award twilight the task managers verst...without her we would still be working."

"thank you everypony." she said bowing and putting on the vest. it was a collection of all the other vest colors and a trio of all the symbols. it was definitely one of a kind. everypony was clapping and cheering. i clapped too. after that everypony went back home. it was already feeling like spring.

i was going to go find rarity when i was stopped by rainbow dash. she put a hoof on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"nice work out there kid... i'll catch ya later." she said removing her hoof and flying away.

"yeah see ya." i said walking back into the crowd. i eventually found rarity and walked up beside her. "hey baby."

"well well well. if it isn't the handsomest pegasus in ponyville."

"ah so you got my message earlier."

"it was hard to miss." she said laughing and giving me a peck on the cheek. we walked together through the marketplace. all the ponies were opening their shops for a few hours before the day ended. i checked the time on the clock tower and it was only 4.

we walked past one vendor who caught my eye. he was selling an old acoustic guitar. i stopped in front of the stall and rarity looked back to see where i went.

"how much for the guitar." i asked.

"twenty bits." the merchant said. damn that was cheap there must be something wrong with it.

"what's wrong with it." i asked as rarity walked up behind me.

"it's cursed." the merchant said. cursed what a load of bullshit. if you ask me i just snagged a perfectly good guitar for 20 bits. crazy old man.

"i'll take it." i said handing him twenty bits.

"it's yours kid...bout time somepony bought this accursed thing from me."

"whatever your loss." i said grabbing the guitar. i put the sling around my neck and carried it in front of me. i held onto both ends with my wings and strummed it. perfectly in tune. i walked away with rarity and waved to the merchant.

"i didn't know you played guitar...that sounds pretty romantic."

"yeah i know a thing or two." i said playing a little tune for rarity to show her i wasn't lying.

"so do you think it really is cursed."

"please...unicorn magic is as far as i'm willing to believe. he's probably some crazy old colt who probably had a run of bad luck or coincidences and blamed it on the guitar."

"do you really think." said rarity. i knew she was a bit nervous but it was fine.

"don't worry babe it'll be fine. here let me play you a song." i said. the first thing to come into my mind was stairway to heaven. i played the intro and hummed a bit for the pipes.

"there's a mare who's sure all that glitters is gold. and she's buying the stairway to heaven." i interpreted pony grammar so it sounds original. "when she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed...with a word she can get what she came for. ooh ooh ooh, she's buying the stairway to heaven."

"oh darling that sounds beautiful" said rarity. i kept playing and soon other ponies started to listen into the song. i got to the part where the guitar line picks up and i sat down on a nearby bench.

"theres a feeling i get, when i look to the west... and my spirit is crying for leaving. in my thoughts i have seen, rings of smoke through the tree's. and the voices of those who stand looking." i kept playing and eventually i had gathered a crowd. not a huge one just like 10 or 15 ponies.

"and it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason... and a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forest will echo with laughter... oh woah woah woah woah oh..."

then i started getting into the good part of the song. the crowd had grown and some ponies were swaying softly to the music. rarity leaned her head against me and closed her eyes.

"if there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now... it's just a spring clean for the may queen... yes there are two paths you can go by but in the long run... there's still time to change the road you're on... and it makes me wonder... you're head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know... the piper's calling you to join him."

when the electric solo came up i just improvised and used a few of the same sounding chords on the acoustic guitar and it worked out just fine. i eventually came to the other set of lyrics and i had a bit of fun with my voice in this part.

"and as we wind on down the road...our shadows taller than our soul...there walks a mare we all know...who shines white light and wants to show...how everything still turns to gold...and if you listen very hard...the truth will come to you at last...when all are one and one is all...to be a rock and not to roll..."

i ended the song there and didn't say the last verse. i let the guitar rest on my lap and i put a hoof around rarity who was practically asleep on my shoulder. before i could wake her up the crowd of ponies started to cheer. i looked up and noticed that the crowd had grown there were at least 40 ponies. even rainbow dash and applejack were in the crowd.

a lot of the ponies started to bombard me with questions. i didn't really have any time to answer their questions because there were so many of them. i didn't even here most of them. eventually rainbow and applejack pushed their way through the crowd and over to me.

"well i'll be damned. that's some mean guitar playin y'all done there."

"yeah nice song dude...didn't know you had it in you."

"i thought it was beautiful." said rarity as she leaned off my shoulder.

"thanks...but trust me i know songs that beat the crap out of this one."

"nice." said rainbow. the four of us stood there and talked. eventually the crowd had disbanded and went their separate ways. we stood and talked a bit longer until applejack pointed something out.

"theres a crack in yer guitar right there." she said pointing to a small crack.

"oh i guess there is." i said looking at the crack. it was just a small crack not much really. "it's not that bad, it'll be fine." after a while we went our separate ways as well and i went back to my house with rarity. it was getting a bit dark and the other ponies were heading home.

before we reached rarity's neighborhood i stopped at the corner. something was wrong. it took rarity a second to realize i had stopped. she turned around and looked at me confusingly.

"is everything alright." she asked

"yeah it just-" but before i could stop i felt a tight pain in my chest. i fell to the ground and writhed around. the straps on my guitar loosened and the guitar fell off of me.

"crimson." said rarity running over "are you alright." i felt a tight grip around my neck and i couldn't breath. it felt like someone was actually grabbing my neck but nopony was there. i fell to the ground from the lack of oxygen and i fell in view of the guitar. the cracks on the guitar started to grow as i struggled for air. i cracks formed a heart. then two jagged cracks ran through the heart.

"oh celestia somepony help." rarity said getting on her knees trying to get me to stop whatever i was doing. "crimson stop this you're scaring me." she said almost on the verge of tears. everything started going dark as my heart rate went up and my body stopped responding to the lack of oxygen.

just before i was sure i was dead the grasp released around my neck and back into my chest. i took the deepest breath in my life and put one hoof around my neck. the other on my burning chest. i tried to get up but i had gone completely numb in my hind legs.

i started to hallucinate and i saw shadows and dark figures watching over all the ponies. they all started to gather towards me. thinking they were real i started to back up. the came close and dove on me, but just like that they were gone. i thought everything had stopped. i reached over to rarity but i felt a sharp pain in my hoof and i pulled it back.

i looked at my hoof and there were claw mark on it. what the fuck is this. i felt hands coursing all over my body. i felt another sting on my back and turned onto my stomach. there was a deep slash on my back. i yelled out in pain. i felt more and more slashes throughout my body. and i felt hands grab round my neck again and squeeze. i started to choke again as the shadowy figures ravaged my body. i tried to yell out in pain but i couldn't force it out. a few other ponies had tried to come help me but when they saw the claw marks they didn't dare come close. the only one helping me was rarity who was trying to shake me out of whatever i was in.

she was crying...she knew i wouldn't survive this. i don't think i'm going to either. i eventually started to grow weak again from the lack of oxygen and from blood loss. i tried to call to rarity but i could only reach out to her as the monsters clawed at my arms. before i faded i heard a voice behind me.

"git outta here git." said a familiar voice. just like that the hands around my neck let go and the pain in my chest stopped. i gasped for air and laid on the ground. the pony who had spoke up soon walked over to me. "you alright there sonny." he said. it was the pony who sold me the guitar.

"oh god thank you." i said struggling to get up. i tried to get back on my feet but i couldn't get up i just fell back to the ground. rarity kneeled next to me and dried her tears.

"thank you so much for helping him." she said

"what...what the hell was that."

"the guitar ya bought from me is cursed with the souls of some real nasty demons." nasty was a bit of an understatement. "your lucky i shooed them off before they could really hurt you." the mentioning of demons was enough to send all the other ponies running off away from us.

"how are you able to get rid of them like that."

"because they're afraid of me." he said. he reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial of red liquid. "here drink this." he said handing me the vial and popping the top. i didn't care what it was but this guy just saved my ass so that means he's cool in my books. i took a swig and felt a rush of warmth run over my body. the liquid however was bitter and sour at the same time.

it felt soothing and i felt rejuvenated. i looked at myself and the cuts and slashes were nothing but little scrapes. it fixed me up pretty good. it was probably some sort of health potion. i have to remind myself to get a few of those for emergencies. i got up and helped up rarity.

"come here boy." he said taking a seat on a bench. "let me tell you a story." i walked over and sit down. rarity came over and sat down next to me.

"now i feel mighty sorry for letting you buy that guitar...it wasn't right."

"but i don't understand what did you mean they were afraid of you."

"well that's where the story comes in. you see many years ago my ancestors first settled here. my great great great grandfather was a farmer on these here lands. now don't get wrong he was a right good farmer but he was down on his luck. so one winter he decided to visit a mage in canterlot who gave him some rather...unconventional magic to help him harvest."

"what does this have to do with the guitar" asked rarity

"hold on missy i'm getting there." he said "now my father performed this unconventional magic and by mourning he was growing the biggest and healthiest harvest equestria had ever seen. though he didn't know he had secretly signed a deal with a few demons. knowing this the deal was that on the 16 anniversary of his sons birthday the demons would take him."

"but what about the guitar." i asked.

"don't you know how to listen to a damn story." the old colt hollered.

"sorry." i said hanging my head

"now when the demons threatened his family he turned to the mage for help, but the mage was gone so he went to the only pony he could think of...the princess herself. now the princess felt bad for my father and his father. so using her magic she created that guitar there." he said pointing to the guitar that laid on the curb.

"she told him that the sound of the guitar will drive away the demons. and so he played the guitar everyday and everynight to keep the demons away. and that one guitar had been passed down through my family for as long as i can remember."

"so why are the demons after me now."

"because they feel cheated. my father passed away and i haven't a son, so the demons still need a soul to return with them to the underworld. whoever has played the guitar last is now doomed to be haunted. but if you play the guitar then it will ward off the demons."

i didn't know what to think but after that episode i just experienced i'm willing to believe anything. it was a bit complicated but it made sense. so the guitar ,the item that doomed me, is also the only item keeping me alive. i walked over to the guitar and picked it up. i put it around my neck and strummed it.

there was a small quake and a low growling sound. the ground underneath me started to crack a bit and i could see large moving shadows everywhere. for the first time in a while i was genuinely scared. and just like that the shadows were gone and everything looked normal.

rarity walked over to me and latched onto me. she started to cry again. i held onto her and tried to tell her that everything was going to be alright but i don't think it really is going to be. i looked over to the old colt who looked at me with great worry.

"is there anyway to stop this" i asked him

"not that i know of but i once intended to bring it to celestia. but i'm too old to make the journey to canterlot. i believe this quest falls upon you now."

"you're sure there's no other way."

"if there was another way believe me i would tell you."

"i guess i'm going to canterlot then." i said

"thank you for your help" said rarity with tears still rolling down her cheeks. i wiped the tears from her cheeks and hugged her.

"the demons have grown strong lad...remember there are signs for when the demons are coming. simply look to the shadows" he said walking off into a nearby alleyway. i didn't truly believe that everything was going to be alright but i knew i would pull through this.

i'm not sure why but some part of me was excited about this. it has been a while since i was presented with a real challenge like this. i was going to take this seriously but i was a bit giddy. i looked off into the distance and noticed the sun was setting. it was getting late and i was tired. i guess that in the morning i will have to get a train to canterlot

i guess i have a new quest.

-Authors Note: winter wrap up muther fuckers (with a twist ooooh). i honestly got bored and this was the first thing that popped into my head. i expect the journey to canterlot to be a while maybe like 3 chapters give or take. but after this i already have plans to go to the young flyers competition and watch some bitchin' sonic rainbooms. won't that be fun - End of Note-


	16. Chapter 16: Rock and Roll Train

"are you sure you're ready for this." said rarity.

"yeah at least let us come with you." said twilight. the night went by and now i was waiting for the train at ponyville station. i had the cursed guitar around my neck. all my friends had heard the news and had come to see me off.

"no it's too dangerous." i said "i couldn't forgive myself if i let any of you get hurt."

"you're sure you'll be fine." asked rainbow dash.

"yeah i'll be fine." i said. rarity walked over to me and kissed me goodbye. i took my fathers necklace off and held it out to her. "just in case." i said handing it to her. i looked in her eyes as she took the cross. i could see that she was trying her best to hold back her tears but she was about to burst.

before i knew it the train was at the station. i leaned in and kissed rarity one last time. i pulled away and boarded the train. i stayed at the entrance while the train departed and i headed inside when they were out of view. this was the beginning of my quest.

i had no idea how long i was going to be here. i looked around and saw a pony in a conductor's cap. i ran over to him and stopped him.

"excuse me sir how long is the trip from here to canterlot."

"about 14 hours."

"alright thank you." i said and he carried on. i took a seat in one of the benches and stared out the window. it was about a few minutes later that i started hearing voices in my head. i started to grow a bit of a headache. i grabbed the guitar and plucked a few strings.

i played a little melody and i watched as the shadows danced around me. i watched the shadows as they flickered and flared like fire. it was actually rather amusing. this was definitely a magic guitar even with the curse. i continued my tune and the shadows came to life in the background.

i watched as my own shadow swayed back and forth dancing with the others. i finished my song and the shadows fell back into place. i rested the guitar on my lap and sighed. i was pretty tired. i was woken up multiple times last night by demons.

i looked out the window and rested my eyes. after about an hour the train stopped at the next stop. a bunch of ponies got on board and filled up the cart. there were at least 30 ponies in the cart now. a lot of them looked really fancy. i bet that they are going to canterlot. i watched as a woman and her child came onto the cart.

they looked around and couldn't find a seat. i got up and offered my seat.

"here take my seat." i said grabbing my guitar and standing up.

"thank you." she said as her and her child sat down. i walked down the aisle and into the next cart. this cart was a dinning cart. i was getting very hungry i took a seat and waited for the waiter.

"hello sir." said a waitress with pig tails. "what can i get you."

"i'll just have a rose petal salad." i said

"alright sir i'll get that to you in just a minute." she said walking away. i looked around and there were only about three other ponies in the dinner. i looked around and noticed that the room was growing unusually dark. i got a bit of a headache again. how can that be i just warded the demons off not more than an hour ago. i pulled out my guitar and softly strummed it.

the headache stopped and i continued to play the guitar. seconds after the shadows started coming to life and dancing around. the other ponies in the cart were very amused by the dancing shadows. as i played and the shadows danced other people from different carts were drawn to the sound of the music.

the other ponies were greeted by the dancing shadows. eventually the other ponies started swaying to the rhythm and danced with the shadows. after soon the waitress came in with my food and put it down on the table and smiled at me as she swayed her hips to the beat.

i ended my song and gave a little bow as the shadows stopped and fell back into their rightful places. the other ponies applauded my performance and returned to their own lives. i turned my attention to my food. i was really hungry now so i grabbed a fork and wolfed down the salad. i had just finished my salad when somepony came over to me.

"that's some very impressive guitar playing there boy. what's your name."

"crimson," i said "crimson blast".

"well crimson blast can you tell me how you did that."

"well if i told you the truth you would either run away in fear or laugh at me and think i'm crazy."

"now what would make you think that." he said. i could tell this guy really wanted to know.

"because the guitar has a curse on it."

"oooh a curse how interesting." he said taking a seat across the table.

"please leave me alone." i said. but he stayed he continued to bug me for several minutes and i was starting to get mad at him. i tried playing for a bit to tune him out but he was loud. i kept playing my little melody and only plucking a few strings at a time. he was starting to annoy me. i looked at the shadows on the ground i started seeing figures and faces. i started playing a bit harder.

"c'mon kid work with me...i'll give you 300 bits for the guitar." he said. i had had it with this guy.

"i...said...NO" i said yelling at him. i strummed all the chords with the force to snap the strings of a normal guitar. it made an evil sound and the room shook and went dark. when the light finally shone through the cart was still shaking horribly. i looked at the guy and there were two hands jetting from the shadows holding the guy up to a wall by his neck. i was a bit scared and shocked to see this. i was still playing my guitar. soon long dark tentacles crept from the shadows and the other ponies in the cart fled to the corners.

they inched themselves closer to the one pony pinned to the wall. they slowly started to wrap themselves around the guy. i was actually afraid for him. i tried playing the guitar faster to make them stop but they only became more furious and angry.

the shadows had now almost completely engulfed this one colt and a very sharp looking blade like dagger inched its way to the ponies face. then it hit me. i strummed once more and stopped the song i was playing just as the dagger like shadow aligned itself in front of the ponies face.

when i stopped so did the shadows they let the guy go and fell back into place. the shaking stopped and it felt like the whole world had gone silent. the pony fell to the ground and wrapped a hoof around his neck to try and breathe. he stood up and looked at me. i could see the fear in his eyes. i walked over to him to help him.

"i'm so sorry. are you alright?" i asked

"don't touch me you demon." he said slapping my hoof away and running into the next cart. the other ponies in the cart had followed him into the other carts. i can't really blame them i wanted to run too. i put my guitar back around my neck. i traveled through a few carts and made my way to the lavatory.

i leaned the guitar against the sink and looked into the mirror. i noticed that there was a face staring at me through the mirror. i looked back to see if it was real but there was nopony there just me. i looked back and the face was still there. it was a creepy eyeless shadow of a pony. it was tall and dark and had the creepiest smile on it's face.

i turned on the faucet and poured some water into the hooves. i splashed the water on my face and looked back at the mirror. the shadow had moved closer and was practically breathing on my neck. i felt like it was actually there. there was a warmth on the back of my neck and i could feel something crawling on my skin.

"leave me alone." i said into the mirror looking at the shadow. it only seemed to please it and it's smile grew larger. i could hear something like a flicker of fire and a few cracks but they were faint. i then heard multiple voices in my head. they were soft and i couldn't make them out.

i grabbed the guitar and headed out of the lavatory into one of the sleeping was no pony in here. most of the ponies were either avoiding me or in different carts. i looked out the window and noticed that it was getting dark. the voices continued to whisper into my ears.

i sat down and got ready to play the guitar again and make them go away when i heard a much louder and evil sounding voice in my head. it was much more audible over the other voices.

"yesss... play and dance...in...darkness." it whispered in my ear. i wasn't going to let this demon be happy but i feared that if i didn't play they would end up killing me and nopony on this train was going to help me. suddenly i decided to play the happiest song i could think of. "noo...thisss...playin hurtsss usss."

"here comes the sun, here comes the sun...and i say it's alright." the music started to echo in the room and the cart shook. the shadows flickered and flared but never came to life. "little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter...little darling it feels like years since it's been here."

eventually other ponies from the different carts had poked their heads in to see what was happening. seeing that i was conjuring shadows they felt it safe to enter though they stayed away from me. but i continued playing.

"here comes the sun, here comes the sun...and i say it's alright...little darling, the smiles returning to the faces...little darling it feels like years since it's been here...here comes the sun, here comes the sun...and i say it's alright."

a few little foals wandered over and started to sway to the music. one of them was the same foal i had given my seat up for. the mother watched silently in the corner smiling. allot of the ponies were smiling and swaying to the music.

"sun,sun,sun here it comes...sun,sun,sun here it comes...woah oah... sun,sun,sun here it comes...doo doo doo doo...sun,sun,sun here it comes...sun,sun,sun here it comes."

and like magic the room started to glow bright. this was probably a good thing. the whispers in my ear turned into faded screams and vanished as i played my lovely tune.

"little darling...i feel that ice is slowly melting...little darling...it seems like years since its been clear...here comes the sun, here comes the sun..and its alright...oh i say it's alright." with that i ended the song and strummed one final tune. the small crowd of ponies that gathered clapped and the fillies and foals in front of me hopped around in excitement.

the crowd of ponies watched me and expected me to play another tune. i was about to put my guitar down when one of the fillies tugged on my tail. i looked down at him and he stared up at me with the biggest eyes.

"hey mister can you play another song." he said with a smile. i didn't feel like playing again i just wanted to sleep and try to forget about today.

"sorry kid but i'm beat...thin i'll turn in early."

"aww." said the little foal. all the other kids sighed in sadness and a few of the adults seemed disappointed too.

"how about you come see me tomorrow and i'll play a song for you."

"you promise." he said picking himself up.

"yeah kid i promise"

"sweet." he said running back to his mother. the other ponies left me alone to sleep. they all went into the other housing carts and slept themselves. some of the other ponies stayed in this sleeping cart and took their own beds. the lights was off and i stared out into the starry night sky.

i think i figured this whole thing out. it seems to be that the happier or brighter the tune i play the longer the demons are kept at bay. but i still couldn't figure out how i managed to get those shadows to attack that guy. i bet the princess will be able to explain that.

i eventually started drifting to sleep. i had a horrible dream where i was being chased by something that i couldn't see. the dream didn't feel like it lasted very long. eventually the invisible force caught up to me and cut my head off. usually a dream like that you're supposed to wake up from but i stayed asleep and watched as my lifeless body hit the ground and bled all over the floor.

i continued to watch as the monster tore my body limb from limb and turned my body into a bloody mess. it was weird it was like looking into a mirror but in my dreams. as the chunks of meat and bone hit the floor and splashed in a puddle of blood the demon became more visible.

when it was finally out of meat to tear up it looked over at me. the actual me. it lunged towards me and i jumped out of sleep gasping for air. i looked around and it was daytime out. but just barely. i felt a sharp pain in my left are. i looked over and there was a huge gaping claw mark. it already seems to have scabbed over. how is that possible. i must have gotten it in like the middle of the night.

i got up and grabbed my guitar. i walked into the lavatory again to wash my face. i looked in the mirror and saw the same dark pony with the same creepy smile. i ignored it. i splashed water on my face and headed over to the dinning cart.

after i ordered breakfast i headed back into the sleeping cart and sat in my bed. i stared outside and saw canterlot in the distance. it couldn't be long now. after about a few hours the little foal i met yesterday came into the cart with some other kids and his mother. he asked if i could play him a song and i did.

i played another beatles song and the kids danced around. again the music drew a crowd and when i finished they all clapped and the kids cheered. i was about to play again when a voice came on the intercom.

"next stop...canterlot." said the voice.

"thats my stop." i said picking up the guitar and heading to the door. the train came to a halt and the doors flew open. i walked off the train and onto the platform. the station here was beautiful. i walked out of the station and into the streets. i looked around and saw many snooty looking ponies wearing fancy clothes and keeping their heads up high. i don't often enjoy these kinds of people. rarity was acted like these people but she was nowhere close to as horrible as them.

i took a seat on one of the benches. i asked a few of the walking by ponies for directions to the castle. at the first sight of me all the ponies just turned their heads, pouted and walked away. that made me angry for some reason.

i started to watch the ground as the shadows grew. everything went dark. when my vision returned i was greeted by a massacre of horrible images. there was blood and bodies everywhere. ponies hanging from buildings and corpses littered the ground.

i could see myself surrounded by a variety of shadow tentacles. they were stained with blood and so was i. i had the same creepy smile as the dark pony i see in the mirror. this had to be a trick. i watched as the tentacles shot out from the mass surrounding me and grabbed a pony who was crawling away. they ripped him in half.

i heard the faint whispers in my head. they were then accompanied by the screams of all the ponies. it was like i already knew what happened and who's scream belonged to which body. i was once again scared. i reached for my guitar hoping that the images would vanish. and then i heard the voice in my ears.

"yesss...yesss...do it...kill them all...you have the power...you know you want to." the voice said i tried to ignore it but it was strangely right. i was so angry at these ponies for no reason whatsoever i honestly wanted to watch them all burn. i shook myself from those thoughts and played a song

"i am a colt...of constant sorrow, i've seen trouble all my days...i bid farewell to old ponyville, the place where i was born and raised... for six long years i've been in trouble, no pleasure here on earth i've found."

i kept playing and the visions faded showing me the real world. the other ponies seemed mildly entertained by my playing but still paid no attention. the whispering and screams in my ears had dwindled and then stopped.

"for in this world, i'm bound to ramble...i have no friends to help me now...it's fare thee well to my old lover... never expect to see you again." with that line i finished the song. i couldn't bare to play the rest. a few of the less snooty ponies clapped lightly for my performance. i picked myself up and headed into town. i finally made it.

****-Authors Note: so this part of the story is coming along quite nice. there are going to be a few twists and turns at further in and a surprise. don't worry it's gonna be good. so stay tuned. - End of Note.-


	17. Chapter 17:Paranormal Activity

i could see the castle but so i headed in that general direction. eventually i came up on the castle gates. i went to walk in but two guards had stopped me.

"halt..." one guard said "nopony can enter the castle without the princesses permission."

"please i need to see the princess...i'm crimson blast a friend of twilight sparkle."

"that matters not." the other guard said.

"please let me in."

"go away." they both said. i was becoming furious with them. the cracks and whispered appeared again in my head.

"you can get passst... you have the power...ussse it." the voice said. i didn't want to but something was pushing me to do it. i picked up the guitar and got ready to strum it. i was about to strum it when the other guard stopped me.

"wait you said you're name was crimson blast."

"yes "I said.

"the princess has been expecting you." the guard said holding open the gate. "follow me." he said. i followed him and he opened up the doors to the castle. the inside of the castle was huge and beautiful. from the marble columns to the gilded design.

"nnoo...he isss weak...dessstroy him." i heard the voice whisper in the back of my head. i looked around a bit more and eventually the guard lead me into the throne room where the princess was sitting on her throne. "leave this place...now." the voice said in my head.

i started to get a pounding headache and every step only made it worse. the room around me started to blur and i could hear whispers in my head. i could hear hysterical laughing and the screams of other ponies.

"ah i've been expecting you." the princess said. "i see you came across an old instrument of mine." i could feel hands started to crawl over my body and reach around to my neck i felt faint and almost fell over. "why don't you play me a tune and show me that it's still in tune." she said

i immediately grabbed the guitar and swung it around i played a few chords and eventually got into an upbeat tune. i could feel the whispers and hands fading. my vision came back to me and everything was clear now. i played for a while and the princess closed her eyes and enjoyed the music.

i kept playing but i messed up and played an off key note. the whole building shook and something swiped the princess. she yelled a bit from the pain and i saw there was a claw mark across her face. she turned back and looked at me. she didn't seem to moved by the whole incident. the guards however had their spears to my neck.

i was expecting the princess to call them off but she just laughed. i was confused she just got swiped across the face and she thinks it's funny.

"oh i haven't been this excited since i gave that guitar to a troubled farmer almost a thousand years ago." she continued to giggle. "at ease guards." she said. the guards lowered their spears and stood at attention.

she started walking down from her throne until she was standing right next to me. she used her magic and opened a door from across the room.

"follow me crimson." she said. i followed her and she let me enter the room. it was dark and i couldn't see. the princess ordered two guards over to the door. "under no circumstances is anypony allowed to come through this door but me."

"yes ma'am" the guards said. and with that she closed the door and locked it. the room was completely black. i could hear whispers again in my mind. there was a faint glow from the princesses horn and then the whole room lit up. we were in a huge circular room. it was lined with bookcases and pillowing on the ground. it looked like a private study.

"i knew this was going to catch up to me eventually but i never thought you would be the one to revive this old issue."

"princess i..."

"i take it you already know the story about the farmer and his son."

"well...yes." i said.

"now i meant to bring this to the family hundreds of years ago but i had completely lost touch. i had thought they moved out of equestria but i guess one of the sons stayed." i was looking over at her as she started rummaging through a chest in the corner. "i'm regretfully sorry that you had to get caught up in this."

"princess it's fine." i said trying not to act worried but i was. i was scared shitless. i have no idea what's going to happen or even if i will survive. i was truly scared but not for myself.

"here it is." she exclaimed as she pulled a scroll from the chest. she closed the chest and latched it shut. she walked over and handed the scroll to me.

"what is this" i asked. i opened the scroll up and noticed it was a series of guitar notes and beats. it was a song.

"i learned of this song and it is told to banish evil. hopefully it will banish the demons haunting you. but be warned this isn't going to be an ordinary song. i expect that the demons will become violent and try to destroy you before you can banish them." she said. she had become dead serious now. i don't blame her but i wanted to get this over with "are you ready for this." she said

"yes i am." i said gulping. i was nervous. i knew that if i messed up this song that the demons would probably destroy me and drag me down to hell to burn for eternity...no pressure. i opened the scroll and read from it. it was a simple pattern of seven chords that just repeats.

i held the guitar up and formed my wings to the first chord. before i could strum there was a strange breeze that flickered the candles. that was not good considering that there weren't any windows in this room. i closed my eyes and strummed the first chord. i continued on with the song.

nothing was happening...i was three verses in and i already knew the song like the back of my hand...hoof. i kept playing and there was a large thud. the ground shook and i felt a tense grip in my stomach. the pain in my stomach moved up to my chest then to my head.

i could feel hands on me and i heard voices. they felt different. they started shouting out insults and swears to distract me. i don't think i was the only one who could hear them though. the room continued to shake and a few books flew off the shelves and launched themselves across the room.

i few of them headed for the princess but she stopped them with her magic. as i continued to play images of torn bodies and burned houses flooded my mind. it was like watching a horror movie. there was another rumble and a load roar filled the room. a chandelier that was hanging on the ceiling burst and the small crystal shards flew throughout the room.

i screamed in pain as i felt the shards pierce my body. the princess however had shielded herself. i few more books and tomes flew across the room. the room started to grow dark and i felt a creaking sound behind me. i looked back and it was too late. one of the bookshelves fell and nearly flattened me. i toppled on me and crushed my leg. i hollered in pain and my eyes widened as the guitar fell to the ground and made a horrible sound when it made contact with the floor

"oh shit...no,no,NO" i said. i messed it up now i'm fucked. the whole room went dark. there was absolutely no source of light. i was shivering from fear. there was a silent chuckle that turned into a menacing laugh. i felt something grab me and i was flung onto the other side of the study. i hit the ground with a thud and laid there.

there were a few grunts and more thuds around the room. i tried to see what was happening but the entire room was pitch black. there was a faint glow in the distance and then the room was lit up again. the whole place was trashed and standing in the center of the room was a giant hulking mass of shadows and smoke.

it looked sort of gooey like it was made of tar or something but it resembled a skeleton. it was giving off some kind of smoke or fume. it was looming over the princess who laid on the other side of the room. she had multiple cuts and bruises on her. the shadowy mass raised a hand to smite the princess.

i grabbed a nearby book lying on the ground and threw it at the shadow. t turned it's attention to me and the same familiar grin shone on it's face. it launched itself at me and threw out a sharp tentacle at me. the tentacle tore right through my chest and exited out of my back. i tried to scream in agony but i couldn't force any sounds out of my mouth.

the shadowy demon removed the blade from my chest and i dropped to the floor. it hulked over me and covered me in darkness. i was passed over by multiple waves of pain and agony. i closed my eyes tight and waited for it to end. finally the pain had stopped and i opened my eyes.

the only way i could describe where i was is the literal definition of nowhere. all around me was a sea of white. i looked down at myself and noticed i was human again. i was also naked. but i noticed i wasn't injured. i heard a soft whisper behind me and looked back.

standing there was a pony. completely black with bat wings horns and tentacles waving by it's side. it had soulless white holes for eyes and the same evil grin on it's face. that smile was going to haunt me for the rest of eternity. i didn't care though i was angry and i ran at it.

the creatures grin quickly faded and it lashed out it's tentacles at me. i waited for the pain of the tentacles piercing my body but it never came there was only a thud against my skin. the tentacles stood there crooked and bent against me. i took the opportunity and charged at the demon. i jumped and tackled it to the ground. i started beating it in the face as it opened it mouth showing it's fangs. it bit into my arm and i yelled in pain.

"you fool you can't possibly fathom my power." said the demon letting go of my grip and raising a few tentacles.

"fuck you." i said. i grabbed one of the tentacles and stood up. i put my foot on his chest and ripped the tentacle off of his body.

"R AAAAGGGGHHHH" he roared. he lashed out a few more tentacles and wiped me with them. i yelled in pain and grabbed one. i didn't pull it off i just grabbed it and threw him to the ground behind me. he hit the ground and made a horrible sounding crunch.

"doesn't feel good now does it."

"how isssss thissss...posssible...i am one of the most feared demonsss in the world." he said squirming on the ground.

"well i'm not from you world..." i said walking over and putting my foot over his face. "...MOTHERFUCKER." i yelled as i brought my foot down and curb stomped him. his skull cracked and he dissipated into some kind of smoke. the smoke flew over and covered my body. i tried to fight it off but it was just smoke. soon it started seeping through my body and i felt like every part of my body was going to tear open from the inside.

i bent down to my knees and yelled in pain. the white world around me started turning black and soon enough i was in a void of darkness. i didn't know what was going on. after a few minutes the pain receded and i sat down. i didn't know what to do now.

i'm not sure how long it was but it felt like i was there for hours just sitting there in this void. i started freaking out and going crazy. i thought i was going to be trapped in here forever. but i saw in the distance a bright light. i didn't waste any time getting to my feet and sprinting to it.

as i ran i watched as it grew closer and brighter. it felt like i was running over a mile but i still wasn't tired. i ran until the light was mere feet from me. i covered my eyes from the light and i was soon engulfed by it. i felt different now. i opened my eyes.

i was in the study surrounded by guards. i was back in equestria now,i did it somehow i'm not sure why but the fact i was surrounded by guards didn't help. i stood up and noticed the princess standing behind them. i still couldn't help but feel different.

"guards the pony named crimson dash has been possessed by a powerful demon...stop at nothing to destroy him." she said. my eyes widened and the guards closed in on me. i can't believe this is happening. how could the princess do this i was fine.

"no princess wait..." i said but she cut me off.

"don't listen to it...he will try to deceive you." she said. one of the guards lunged at me with a spear and i dodged it. this couldn't be happening there must be something wrong. i have to fix this but i was so scared now i...just...lost it.

"NOOO." i yelled. the ground shook and all the guards were pushed away from me by some magical force. i was shocked. but nothing could prepare me for what was going to happen next.

from all corners of the room...all the shadows had converged underneath my hooves and puddled up into one mass. the shadows started to inch their way up my body. i was in too much shock to do anything. they covered my body and i felt a strange power. a few shadowy tentacles popped out of the puddle of shadows on the ground and surrounded me.

i felt different like someone else but i was still in control. the tentacles felt real as if they were part of me. i was amazed. i had already started thinking of possible ways this could have happened. the guards just looked back in horror as they watch me sway the tentacles around.

i walked forward a bit and noticed a mirror to my left. i walked over and looked into it. i looked like some kind of demon. the shadows collected at my hooves and spread up my body like veins. my hair had changed to some kind of smokey flowing mane. and my eyes.

my eyes were as black as the deepest darkest pit on earth. it was like i was looking past myself into something else. without hesitation one of the guards leapt towards me with his spear. i didn't hear or see him but i knew he was coming from up behind me. i don't know how but i just knew.

i turned around and grabbed him by his hooves. i brought him closer to me and growled at him. i stared at him and he was shivering. a part of me wanted to rip him in half but i wasn't going to. i put him down and stared into his eyes. he ran into the crowd.

"NOW LISTEN" i yelled. my voice had a deep undertone like someone was talking with me. the room shook and the candles flickered. i looked around and the guards had stopped. i looked over at the princess and saw a smile on her face. Damn her and her smartness she probably planned this.

"i knew it was still you." she said signaling for the guards to leave. when the guards left she circled around me. i still was covered in darkness. she seemed very intrigued by this. "i have seen this before." she said "when a demon tries to take over a body sometimes it can fail because the host's soul is stronger than the demon."

"so what happened i said."

"well it appears that instead of being rejected by the host...the demon was trapped inside of you now completely under your control...it really is fascinating."

"so what do i do now." i said. i was growing calmer now and the shadows around me grew dimmer until they vanished and i was regular me again.

"i want to learn about this... so i'm inviting you to stay for a while so we can both benefit from this...i will learn from this and have a greater understanding...and you can hone your abilities."

"i'm sorry but i'm having trouble understand what just happened."

"to put it simply would be difficult...but lets saw that you won the fight and now you have your reward..." she said. i didn't know about staying in canterlot for much longer but i was excited about having some sort of magical abilities. "so what do you say... do you wish to train your abilities with me."

i didn't know what to think. i was definitely interested but what about my friends in ponyville. how would they react to this. and how long was i going to stay in canterlot.

"how long do you want me to stay?" i asked

"i would wish that you stay a week so we have enough time to study this but that you're friends don't miss you too much." she said. a week didn't sound too bad and it definitely was going to be interesting.

"alright princess i'll do it." i said.

"wonderfull follow me." she said. i followed her out of the room and into the main throne room. the other guards looked at me and scowled except for one guard. probably the one i didn't kill. i was excited for this. i can't believe this is happening to me.

this was going to be fun.

**-Authors Note: alright after this note i'm not putting them at the end of every chapter anymore. only the ones that i feel need one. so bye. -End of Note-**


	18. Chapter 18: Day 1

the princess lead me through the halls and into another room. it was a big room with a huge window overlooking the west side of canterlot and down past the mountain side. there was a large bed could fit 10 families. there were also books everywhere too.

"this will be your room. if you need anything just ring the bell over by the door and a service pony will be with you shortly."

"thank you princess." i said walking a bit further.

"now you should get some rest...it's getting late and you've had a big day today." she said smiling.

"that is quite possibly the greatest understatement i've ever heard." i said as a witty remark. she laughed. i didn't find it very funny considering it was my own terrible joke. she turned around and headed for the door.

"meet me in the courtyard tomorrow at ten and we will begin." she said as she left.

"yes princess" i said. with that she closed the doors behind her and i was alone. the night wasn't here yet and i wasn't as tired as you might think. having a demon in you and getting excited about it gives you quite the boost of energy.

i looked around for something to do. i walked over to the bookcases and browsed through the books until i came across a book titled "super natural" it sounded interesting. i picked it up and there was a fuller title on the front cover.

"supernatural... natural remedies that are just super." that was actually pretty damn funny. i laughed a bit and flipped open the book. there were lists of herbs with pictures next to them and recipes for potions.

maybe i can try my hands at potion making when i get home...sounds like it would be fun. i put the book on a nearby coffee table so i would remember it. i looked through a few more books but none of them peaked my interest.

i kept looking around and i felt my stomach rumble. i went over to the door and rang the little bell. the service here was fast because i only had to wait like two minutes before there was a knock at my door.

"come in." i said. the door swung open and an orange mare with pink hair walked in. she was wearing a maids outfit. she looked at me and smiled.

"ah you're the new guest..." she said "is there anything i can get you." she asked.

"yes it seems i've worked up an appetite and i was wondering if you could show me the way to the kitchen." i asked. i tried to sound as sophisticated as possible. but in reality i was just hungry and wanted some food.

"well i could bring you a meal sir."

" no it's quite alright... i've already grown bored of this room." i said. that part was true.

"as you wish sir..." she said smiling. "if you would please follow me i will bring you to the kitchen." she said walking from the doorway. i followed her and she brought me to the kitchen. it wasn't that far from my room actually. i went in and there were like 15 chefs in there making food.

i asked one of the chefs for a salad and he whipped one up within like a minute. he served it to me and was very polite about it. i always though these professional type chefs were angry all the time. like in the movies.

i brought my food back to my room and ate it in silence. when i finished the meal i had noticed that it was growing darker. i pushed the dinner plate aside and headed to bed. i climbed into the huge bed and pulled the covers over me.

they were extremely comfortable and the bed was so soft. i fell asleep in a matter of minutes. i didn't dream..or at least i can't remember but i knew i slept peacefully because i felt like i didn't sleep at all. i woke up what felt like seconds later and it was morning. i got up and stretched. i looked at the clock and it was eight. so i had two hours before meeting the princess. i got out of bed and walked around.

i opened the curtains to the window and looked down over canterlot. i could see the ponies walking around outside. i looked at the distance and i saw a little speck over the landscape. i concentrated closer on it to see if i could make it out.

soon the speck started to grow larger and everything else around me faded. this was incredible was i actually seeing this. the speck grew from a dot to a town and eventually i made it out to be ponyville. this was ridiculous i could even see the ponies walking around in the streets of ponyville. this was incredible. i guess i have super sight or something.

i wonder if it has enhanced any of my other senses. as i looked more closely i could start hearing voices. this wasn't good. i started freaking out until i noticed something. one of the voices i heard was in unison with a pony in ponyville who was talking to her friend. no way...sick, i have super hearing too. or at least targeted hearing.

i was having fun watching the ponies of ponyville from the comfort of this room. i hadn't noticed but when i finally turned my attention away from the ponies i looked at the clock and it was 9:30. time flies i guess. i walked out of the room and into the hall.

i just noticed that i don't know where i'm going. i walked around a bit through the castle and came across a guard just walking along. he had white fur and a blue mane. he was also very decorated...he must be somepony important.

"excuse me sir..." i said grabbing his attention. "which way is the courtyard" i asked

"why it's right over there." he said pointing to a door down the hallway. he sounded young...and familiar. i know for sure i have never seen this pony before in my life. but he reminded me of...twilight. strange but i ignored it for now and thanked him. i made my way over to the door and out into the courtyard.

it was a warm sunny day and the birds were chirping and flying around. i noticed the princess standing over by a few bushed looking over at the garden below.

"good morning princess." i said.

"ah you're right on time." she said turning around to greet me. "are you ready to begin."

"yes." i said.

"wonderful" she said. "so lets see it." she said. i concentrated hard but i didn't know what to do. i tried to think about earlier. i couldn't seem to do it. i concentrated much harder. suddenly i could feel some sort of energy. i pulled it towards me as if i could actually touch it. soon the shadows in the garden migrated over below me and puddled up.

they crawled up to me and i was in my...shadow like state thing. i don't know what it is but it's pretty cool.

"alright so we need to control how and when you get into you're amplified state of power." she said. i'll stick with shadow state. "now for the first test i want you to walk into this circle." she said moving out of the way. she was standing on some kind of circle with weird symbols and runes.

it was glowing bright blue and made a small humming sound. i walked over and stepped inside of it. i closed my eyes and waited for something to happen...but nothing happened. what gives i was expecting something awesome to happen.

"wonderful." she said "you just successfully passed through a demon shield." i didn't know what that meant.

"i don't know what that means." i said

"well to put it simply... you're a pony and not a monster. more or less." she said. that didn't sound very reassuring but it was a start.

"alright what next." i asked.

"first i wish to perform some physical and mental tests."she said. that sounded very boring. she told me to do a series of simple tasks all of which were very simple and boring. after like an hour she told me to stop. i got so bored that i lost control over my shadows and they fled from me. i was me again.

"interesting." she said. before i could say something i felt something was wrong. i heard a crossbow fire behind me. i didn't know what happened but i closed my eyes and reacted. i looked up and saw a tentacle of shadow had leapt from the shadow of a nearby bush and grabbed the arrow before it even came close to me.

it took me a second to realize i was still in control of the shadow and i had done that. i threw the arrow to the ground. i don't think i liked that part of the test.

"fascinating" said the princess "it appears though even out of you're enhanced demon form you still have control over the shadows." she walked around me and studied me for a second before walking back. "try doing something else."

i didn't know how to do something else. i managed to make a few more tentacles from nearby shadows but that was it. i looked down at my own shadow. it looked back at me...then it looked away...what the fuck. i watched as my own shadow lept from the cover of my feet and onto a nearby wall. this was rather amazing since there was nothing causing this shadow. it was just there.

it looked like it was having fun because it was jumping around and flying to different places. it had the same dynamics of a regular shadow...same depth same physics...but it could go anywhere. it was like a little pet.

"that's pretty cool." i said.

"it is rather interesting." said the princess. i started to relax and i put the tentacles away. my shadow ran around a few more times and came to my side. it put it's hooves in coordination with mine and stuck to the floor. it was a normal shadow again.

"alright now lets see how well you fly." said the princess. i concentrated a bit and summoned the shadows back to me. they surrounded me and i spread my wings. a few shadows lept from the mass underneath me and attached to my wings. they shifted around until they grew larger and resembled the wings of a demon. they were dark and trailed some kind of black smoke.

"bitchin'" i said in excitement.

"very interesting." said the princess. i could tell she was taking this seriously but for me it was fun. "why don't you do a few laps around canterlot while i go get a few things." she said walking towards the castle. "and don't scare the locals." she said giving me a wink.

she went inside and i spread my wings some more and took off. by the time i had started flying i was already going faster than i ever did before. i started flying high really high, way past the cloud level. i got to a very high point and fell. i relaxed as i plummeted back down to canterlot and i just stared at the sky the whole time. i finally broke through the first layer of clouds and started counting.

"5...4...3...2...1" i spread my wings and made a dead stop in the air. i turned around to see the ground which was only a few feet away from me. i'm getting good at this flying stuff. i looked around and noticed i wasn't near the castle anywhere. i was in some kind of park. oh shit. hopefully nopony saw me i quickly concentrated and sent the shadows away from me.

as they crawled away two ponies came walking by towards me.

"i do say there lad what's with all the ruckus." one of them said. his voice was snooty and irritating.

"i'm sorry just you know...training."

"well do keep it down this is a civilized pony park after all." his voice was the same as the others.

"and i do say there lad what are you doing here in canterlot." the first pony. i don't think i liked the way that question sounded.

"what do you mean by that." i said.

"well you definitely don't look the canterlot type." the second pony said. i didn't take offense to that, he was right and i couldn't deny it. time to kick these snooty rich ponies asses.

"oh well you see i have been personally invited by the princess to stay for the weak so that she can hone my special abilities. i am but a simple pony from the town of ponyville just outside of canterlot."

"yeah...as if we're supposed to believe that...if it's true then show us these special...abilities of yours..." the second pony said with emphasis on abilities.

"can't" i said "the princess told me not to scare the locals."

"oh i get it...you're a madpony." the first pony said. they both laughed and walked away. yeah you better walk away...i'll remember you're faces. i didn't think much of it. the simple fact that i could hunt them down and destroy them at any given moment made me happy. i felt like i won that battle.

i walked out of the park and looked around. canterlot was a nice place but the ponies here were intolerable. i hated people like that... like they own the world... makes me sick. my stomach grumbled. and hungry apparently. i kept walking and looking around until i accidentally bumped into somepony.

"oh i'm so sorry." i said without seeing who it was. i got up and looked over. there was a white unicorn with blue hair and a mustache. he had a monocle and was wearing a suit. he looked important.

the mare next to him helped him up. she was beautiful. she had a white coat and pink hair. she was tall and slender. i was betting on that being his gold digging wife.

"oh it's quite alright lad accident happen." he said brushing himself off. i already was starting to like him. he was the only polite pony here other than the princess and a select few other ponies in the canterlot castle. "say you're not from around here are you." he asked

"no sir i'm not...i'm here from ponyville on an important quest." i said trying to be as polite and sophisticated as i coul. it was hard work being a snooty as possible.

"ooh, a quest...sounds interesting. so what are you doing here."

"well right now i'm staying at the palace and training with the princess so she can hone my...uh...special talent."

"so you're the special pony that the princess has been expecting... i am fancy pants, and this is my wife fleur de lis." i had no idea what that meant but it sounded french therefore it was fancy. i bowed my head at her and she blushed.

"it was a pleasure meeting you." i said and i started to walk away.

"leaving so soon..." said fancy "we were just going to get some lunch. would you like to join us...any friend of the princess is worth being with." he said. lunch was sounding pretty good but i was expected at the palace.

"that is quite the offer." i said "but i am expected at the palace."

"then maybe we'll meet again" he said.

"maybe." i said. i spread my wings and took off towards the castle. when i got to the castle i circled around for a bit until i recognized the garden. i saw the princess sitting at a small table with a cup of tea. i flew over and touched down on the garden.

"ah you're back." she said putting the cup down. "have fun meeting the locals." she asked.

"funny thing there was really only one pony i bumped into that i actually like. and i literally bumped into him."

"let me guess you met fancy pants."

"how did you know." i asked. she took another sip of tea and put the cup to her side.

"he's the only pony in this whole city with any common courtesy." said the princess. "the rest of them are snobbish and snooty."

"i'm surprised you feel this way about you're loyal subjects."

"i tolerate them but i would prefer it if they were more like the ponies from your town, ponyville. the ponies there are kind and lax."

"then why are they like this."

"i never tell my subjects how to live their lives. but for some reason they insist on acting so sophisticated near me... why they think that is i will never truly understand."

" sounds like a constant downer."

"my life does get boring from here to there. but i survive."

"maybe you're subjects act the way they do because you pretend to be what you're not. instead of acting regal and fancy just have fun."

"thats a very keen observation crimson."

"i have no idea how i came to that conclusion." she laughed a bit and smiled. first time she's smiled all day. but honestly i don't know how i thought of that but the more i think about it the more it makes sense. it might be this whole thing that's happening to me. might have made me smart.

"well why don't we start with the next lesson." she said.

"alright i said." i started to concentrate again but before i could call the shadows to me my stomach growled. it was quite loud and i blushed and lost my focus.

"hmm...maybe some lunch first." said the princess.

"that sounds amazing right now." the princess smiled and used her magic to ring a bell close to the door. the waiter came out and took our orders. he returned quickly with the food. i had ordered and lilly sandwich. i took a bite from the sandwich and it tasted weird.

"do these sandwiches have some kind of special ingredient in them." i asked

"yes they have a special spice added to them." the sandwich reminded me of steak. i don't know why but i haven't had a steak in sooo long. the thought of it made me drool.

"this sandwich reminds me of my home world...i haven't had a good piece of steak in a long time." i said. probably not the best thing to say in front of the princess.

"if i'm correct you're kind are usually omnivorous."

"yeah."

"so what animal is steak."

"steak comes from cows. we also eat pigs, chicken, rabbits, and most other animals that are easily hunted."

"i do apologize for any discomforts you may feel while trying to fit in."

"it's fine, i'll be alright."

"glad to see that even a being not of this world can have fun."

"glad to see the princess has started to lighten up." i said. she laughed a bit. we both finished our meals and returned to the courtyard. i summoned my shadows again and started using the tentacles to swipe at targets the princess made. the shadows were able to cut through anything. from cloth the the strongest of metals. the sun beat down on me for what seemed like hours.

"i think i might go cool off in the shade." i said.

"alright you can take a break." she said. i walked over to a tree and sat under the shade. the princess returned to the table that she put her tea on. she took a sip and stared down at the garden. suddenly a guard came out of the doorway and got the princess's attention.

"ah princess you're alone...good." he said. she looked behind her and looked at me and turned away. what did the guard mean alone i was there. "the preparations for tonight's guests are ready." he continued.

"uhm...very good. dismissed." she said. the guard left and she looked back at the tree. she looked around all over the place. like she lost something. she seemed confused and kept walking around like she was looking for something. i looked down at myself and almost didn't believe what i was seeing. i still wasn't out of my shadow form and i was completely covered in darkness now from head to hoof.

it suddenly dawned on me and i smiled...i was invisible. it took only a second for me to realise that when i'm in this form i can hide in the shadows. that was so boss. time to pull a prank on the princess. but then i realized i was going to play a prank on the princess. this could go one of two ways...it could be awesome and she'll laugh or it would land me in a dungeon or something.

i'm not going to take my chances.

"loose something." i said stepping from the shadows.

"where did you go."

"watch this." i said stepping back into the shadow of the tree and vanishing.

" hmm...very cool." she said

"those are some very subtle words coming from a princess" i said coming out of the shadows.

"i guess i'm learning things everyday in my age."

" yet you still look like you're in your twenties."

"what and gentlecolt." she said smiling. "i guess this is what twilight's friend rarity see's in you."

"well thank you." i said sitting down. for the next couple of hours me and the princess talked and got to know each other a bit better. she wasn't like a regular princess who spends her time doing work and being posh and polite. she liked to have fun. eventually it got dark out and we both returned to the castle. i told her goodnight and left to my room.

i walked into the room and closed the door. i walked over to a mirror hanging over a dresser. i summoned my shadows to me. i didn't really get a good look of myself like this. i could only see my head in this mirror. i used the tentacles to take it down and put it against the wall.

i looked at myself fully now. the shadowy mass traveled up my body like veins. my eyes were soulless and black. my mane looked like some kind of dark black smoke. i opened my mouth and i saw that i had fangs. i hadn't noticed them until now. my coat turned a darker red and my wings still were amplified by the shadows.

i concentrated and i could hear everything happening in the castle. every conversation to the slightest noise. somepony was having sex three rooms over. or at least it sounded like sex. i took a breath through my nose and i could smell everything. i concentrated my sense of smell the the room three rooms over.

it smelt of sweat, anger, regret...somepony was definitely having sex. i laughed a bit at the thought of it. my laugh turned out a bit evil sounding. i glanced back over at myself in the mirror. i had to admit i looked pretty badass. i instantly reacted when i heard a sound by the door. somepony was trying to get in.

without hesitation i lept into a nearby shadow and disappeared. the door opened and the pony maid from earlier today. she looked around.

"hello...is anypony here." she asked. i knew it wasn't right but i kind of wanted to spy on her. plus it was too late now she can't see me like this. i stood there and watched as she walked around and started cleaning. i got bored and sat down. she started getting closer to me and i leapt away into a different shadow without her noticing.

i stood in the shadows near the bookcases as she made my bed and went to head out. i heard more hoofsteps and somepony else entered the room. it was a blue pony with orange hair.

"lavender mist i specifically told you to go clean the west side." he said in an angry voice

"i'm sorry sir it's just-" she said. her voice was a little rasp. she was nervous i could feel it.

"it's just nothing." he said in a booming voice. "now get your ass over to the other side and start cleaning."

"but i already started with this room...and" she said before she was interrupted by him. he back hoofed her across the face and she fell to the ground.

"don't talk out of place bitch." he hit her again and again. i couldn't take any more of this. i lept out of the shadows still in my enhanced state and spoke out.

"HEY." i said in an evil sounding voice. he looked up and froze. he dropped the maid to the ground. he went to run away but i closed the door with a shadow before he could get past. i kicked on the door a bit and screamed. i pulled a tentacle around his mouth and muzzled him.

i pulled him towards me and he stared at me in horror. i lifted him up and growled. his pupils shrunk to the size of pin needles. i looked down and noticed he had pissed himself. i tightened the muzzle around his snout until it broke. his muffled screams echoed throughout the room. i brought a bladed tentacle to his neck and ran it down his body till it was aligned with his heart.

"you better start explaining why you were hitting her and it better be good." i let the muzzle grip around his snout grow looser. "and if you scream for help i'll make you eat your heart." i have no idea where that threat came from. i didn't actually want to kill the guy. i just wanted to make him afraid. i completely loosened the grip around his snout and waited for him to speak.

"i...i...please don't hurt me."

"nopony's going to believe you" i said whispering in his ear. i let go of him and he dropped to the ground. he stumbled onto his hooves and he ran away. i looked behind me to see the maid shivering in fear in the corner. "are you alright" i said. she just whimpered and covered her face.

i dismissed my shadows from me and looked at her. i walked over and sat down next to her. i noticed that she had bumps and bruises up her sleeves and under her shirt. i don't think this was the first incident.

"hey, hey it's alright it's over." i said trying to get her to calm down. "i won't hurt you i swear." she brought her arms down and looked at me. the had a red mark on her face and it was already bruising. she had tears welling up in her eyes.

"p-please don't hurt me i'm sorry." she said. she was fragile and seeing me might have broken her. she started to sob and she turned her head away from me. i put a hoof on her shoulder. she tried to pull away but there was nowhere to pull away to.

"it's alright you're safe." i said. before i could do anything else the royal guard came in. they had the pony i let go a minute ago with them

"no get me away from that...that freak...please no let me go."

"shut-up" one of the guards said. i stood up and looked one of the guards in the eye. he looked at my face and his eyes grew smaller. he was familiar. "we caught this pony running from your room frantically...i think the princess will want to hear about this." he said

"i already know." said celestia entering the room from behind the guards. "i was aware of the entire situation from the beginning... guards arrest this stallion." she said gesturing towards the stallion i beat up earlier.

"princess how..." one of the guards said.

"nothing happens in this castle without me knowing it." she said cutting him off and walking past him. "come here lavender mist dear." she said holding open a wing. lavender pushed me out of the way and ran over to the princess. the princess looked back at me. "i'm sorry you got caught up in this, but thank you. it is clear that previous events haven't clouded your judgement."

i didn't say anything i just smiled. the princess and the guards left and i was all alone. i walked over to my bed when i stepped in something wet. it was that other guys piss stain...gross. i shot a tentacle from the other side of the room and wiped it up with a cloth. i threw the cloth away and walked over to the bed.

****i hopped in and started to drift to sleep. i was very tired and this was only the first of many days. this was just day 1 of a new adventure.


	19. Chapter 19: Home Sweet Home

i got up a bit late the next day and looked around my room. i noticed a note on the inside of my door. how it got there, i have no idea. i walked over and grabbed it. the note read.

"Dear crimson blast: i am unable to help train you today because i have important duties. so i'm giving you the day off. use it to either train or settle in, it's completely up to you, but please don't scare anypony else unless you have too. Sincerely-Princess Celestia."

"P.S. my sister is in the castle today...please be careful around her."

sweet i got a break. i went to go back to be and there was a knock on the door. i walked over and pulled open the doors. there was a butler looking guy at the door.

"sorry to disturb you sir but you have mail." the colt said. he handed me a small letter. it was kind of bulgy and a bit heavy for a card. i assumed there was something in it.

"thank you." i said. the butler turned and left and i closed the door. i opened the note and i reached in. i grabbed something and pulled it out...it was my fathers necklace...this was from rarity. i reached in and grabbed the note. the note read.

"Dear crimson. I'm sending this mail, rush delivery, because i love you and i want you to be safe. when the princess informed twilight that you would be staying the week i knew you were alright...but i wanted to be sure. i see now that you need this more than me up in that lonely castle. Love Rarity."

i put the letter down and looked at my fathers necklace. i smiled and put it on. it was something like this that i needed to boost morale. i was feeling better already. i walked over to the giant window across the room. i used my enhanced vision to look down at ponyville.

i looked around and saw rarity at the train station. from the angle of her eyes she was staring at canterlot. not my window in the castle specifically but she was watching. i smiled and walked from the window. i went over to the door and left the room. i walked around the castle for a while and tried to figure out what i could do today.

i eventually found myself at the kitchen. i got some breakfast and ate it right there. the chefs didn't seem to mind. i got to talk to some of them while i was there and we shared a few laughs. i finished my meal, thanked them, and left.

i wandered around the castle until i found myself in the courtyard. i walked outside and closed the door behind me. i was determined to practice all day today. i started thinking of different things i could do with my abilities and i got so excited. i almost felt like shouting, but i contained myself.

i summoned my shadows to me. i spread my wings and flew up into the air. i was whirling by the clouds of canterlot and i was having quite a fun time. i had almost forgotten to enjoy myself. i flew up to the clouds and cheered

"WHOO" i said. there was a thundering boom and the clouds in front of me either were pushed out of the way or were destroyed. it sounded like thunder from where i was. "woah" i said. just to make sure i did that i yelled again.

"WAHOO." i yelled. again there was a thundering boom and a path of clear skies in front of me. i floated down and landed in the courtyard. i must have some kind of sonic shout. that's pretty damn awesome. i was about to fly back into the air when i hear footsteps from the inside.

i quickly dispelled my shadows and looked back as a guard came out of the door in a hurry.

"i heard a bang... Is everything alright." he said

"i guess." i said lying. "i heard it too and came out here to see what it was."

"did you see what it was."

"no...but it sounded like lightning." i said. the guard looked around for a second and headed back inside. apparently i can lie pretty well too. i returned my attention to my new power and smiled. i'm getting cool new stuff everyday. i continued to train for the rest of the day in my room.

i didn't use the shouting ability because i enjoyed the walls of my room the way they were...not destroyed. when it got dark out i took a break. i was about to go to bed when i remembered that i hadn't had dinner yet. maybe i'll just stop at the kitchen for a quick bite.

i walked out of my room and went over to the kitchen. i asked the chef for something filling but small. he gave me a bit of fudge and some milk. i ate my dinner and finished the milk. i complimented him on the food and left.

i was walking through the halls when i saw princess luna walking through the halls escorted by some guards. they must be her guards because they had different armour. they also looked like bats...they were like bat ponies. i tried not to look at her but i couldn't help it.

i looked at her and she scowled at me and continued walking. we passed each other and she glared at me and we passed. i'm kind of glad that was over. i headed back to my room and hopped up in the bed and went to sleep.

for the rest of the week me and the princess trained everyday in her own private courtyard. i showed her my new abilities and she brought out a few training dummies. i used the yell on them and they blew clean off the mountainside. the rest of the week was like this.

i learned allot of new abilities. my favorite os being able to control somethings shadow which in turn controls them. or duplicating things by stealing their shadow and making it physical. the list just goes on. the princess reassured me that only a few ponies knew of this. she didn't even tell my friends in ponyville.

i asked her about the guards from that one night and the maid. she said she had their memories wiped from those experiences. only three ponies knew about this. me her and luna. it was a secret that probably wasn't going to last long. she actually expected it to only last a week when i returned to ponyville.

i was actually going home today. she was going to fly me off in a pegasus carriage so i didn't have to wait 14 hours on a stupid train. i don't understand why i need a pegasus carriage to get to ponyville when i already have my own wings, but whatever it was a nice gift.

i stood next to the carriage with the princess. we smiled and looked at each other. it was about time for me to get going but it was fun.

"well celestia i had fun...goodbye for now." i said getting on the carriage.

"It was an enjoyable experience" she said. " i have a feeling i might be hearing of you soon." she said with a smile. she gestured to the guards and they took off towards ponyville. i waved goodbye and before i knew it canterlot had disappeared in the clouds.

after a few hours i could see ponyville coming into view. we hovered over the road and landed. i got off and thanked the guards. they smiled and took back off. i took a breath through my nose and took in my surrounding. ah home sweet home. and it looks like rainbow dash saw me coming home. she went to tackle me from behind and without even looking i stepped out of the way and she crashed.

i burst out laughing. i was too distracted by my laughter that i didn't have the time to dodge her when she recovered and tackled me again. i was still laughing. she hugged me and i hugged her back.

"oh celestia i can't believe you're finally home. i missed you" she said.

"hey there dashie."

"come on." she said standing up and pulling me up with her. "everypony is waiting for you a sugarcube corner...lets go." she said pulling me.

"alright alright." i said i lifted up my wings a flew towards sugarcube corner. me and dash got there and i pushed open the doors. my other five friends stood there and rarity sprinted over and hugged me.

"i missed you so so so so much." she said

"hey baby..." i said "i missed you too."

"welcome back sugarcube." said applejack.

"yeah welcome back." said pinkie.

"did you have fun in canterlot" asked fluttershy.

"how were things." asked twilight.

"hold on hold on...only one question at a time." i took a breath and answered their questions. "yes i did have fun in canterlot... and things were fine. the castle was beautiful and the princess was kind...but i didn't care for the snooty locals."

"what's wrong with snooty." rarity said with a smile.

"baby you're not snooty you're posh...theres a big difference." she just laughed and so did the others.

"so the castle was nice?" asked twilight walking over.

"yeah the castle was really nice. she put me in the room next to the kitchen." i said. she looked at me and stared into my eyes. she dropped her smile and looked at me like something was wrong.

"are you alright you seem...different." she said tilting her head.

"yeah i'm fine just a little shaken from the whole episode."

"are you sure."

"yes i'm sure" i said. after a bit we partied until dark. after the party me and rarity went back to my place. we walked up to my stairs and got into my bed. it felt good to be back home.

"hey baby." she said turning to me. "i have something for you." she said.

"what." i asked with a smile. she smiled back. she then leaned in and kissed me. she pushed her tongue into my mouth and i did the same. she got closer to me and pushed me on my back. she got ontop of me and continued to explore my mouth.

she pulled away and turned around. she gave me a wonderful view of her cute little pussy and she massaged my groin. my dick grew harder and came out of its sheath. i returned the favor and rubbed around her vagina. she cooed and continued to rub my cock. she finished and brought her lips to the tip.

she started linking around the tip and i continued to tease her little pussy. she put her lips around the head of my cock and pushed down. she stopped about halfway down and let herself settle. in no time she started bobbing her head up and down on my junk.

i brought my snout closer to her clitoris and gave it a little kiss. she shivered from the pleasure. i didn't hesitate in diving right into her pussy. i licked around the inside of the walls until she was completely soaking wet.

i continued to eat her out and i felt her juices dribble onto my face and down my cheek. i licked again and she moaned into my cock. she stopped for a second and continued. i guess i found her sweet spot. i stayed there but moved around after. myself welling up inside. i continued to munch at her pussy and pushed my snout further in. she brought her head down until she was balls deep in my junk.

i licked a few more times and she shivered and moaned. she sprayed my face with a flurry of juices. i brought my face away from her pussy and took a deep breath. she brought her head off of my groin and sat up on top of me.

"it's been too long since we have had some fun." she said. she guided my member over to her vagina and slowly pushed it in. it has been a while i forgot how good it felt. when she sat down she turned around and looked at me. she grabbed me and bobbed her hips up and down.

"it has been too long baby...i love you." i said

"ooh..."she moaned "i-i love you too baby." she continued bobbing her hips and moaning. i started to moan too from the pleasure too. i grabbed her ass and started bucking my hips against her. she leaned in and hugged me tight. she had given up bobbing her hips and i was doing the work now. it was fine though because it felt amazing. "oh yes baby don't stop." she said. i didn't intend to.

"oh fuck ...yeah." i said i grunted and started bucking my hips faster. i was going to burst.

"aaah." she said. i could feel some liquid dripping down on my balls and over the inside of my leg. she climaxed. i always let her finish first. i don't care as long as she's happy and i'm happy. i started bucking faster and faster. i soon blew my load right into her tight vagina. she moaned out in ecstasy and her grip loosened up. she fell on me and smiled. i collapsed too i let go of her ass and hugged her.

"i missed you baby." i said.

"i missed you too." she said.

i turned us over until we were on our sides. my hard member grew flaccid and slid out of her pussy. a bit of cum started leaking out but rarity levitated a cloth over and cleaned up the mess. my cock sheathed itself and me and rarity laid there and just hugged. my eyes grew heavy and i fell asleep.

****it felt good to be home.


	20. Chapter 20: Dark Secrets Revealed

i slowly opened my eyes and stared at rarity who laid in front of me still wrapped around my waist. i slowly and quietly inched my way out of bed and went downstairs. i was so ready to do something today. i just needed to figure out what. i walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast. i made cornbread. just as i pulled the piping hot cornbread from the oven rarity walked downstairs.

"hey baby..." she said "making breakfast."

"i hope cornbread sounds good because it's too late now." i said putting the dish on the table with the slices of cornbread.

"cornbread sounds wonderful." she said. rarity levitated a piece over to her and spread some butter on it. while she did that i went into the fridge and poured us some orange juice. i passed her a cup and she handed me some cornbread.

we dug in and when breakfast was over i collected my things and we headed out. i walked her home and i kissed her goodbye. my next stop was twilight's house. i made my way through town and got multiple welcome back's from from some of the ponies. i made my way to twilight's house and i knocked on the door swung open and twilight greeted me.

"oh well hello there crimson." she said gesturing me to come inside. i walked in and looked around. nothing was different. "anything i can help you with."

"yes i'm looking for a book." i said

"well that's a first." she said. "do you know what book you're looking for."

"yes i'm looking for a book called super natural."

"i didn't know you were into that kinda stuff." she said rummaging through the bookcases.

"it seems interesting."

"well alright." she said pulling a book off the shelf and tossing it to me. i caught the book and put it in my bag. i went to leave but she had stopped me. i went to open the door but it was locked. "are you sure you're alright." she said.

"i have a feeling yes isn't the answer you're looking for."

"tell me everything that happened."

"i can assure you twilight whatever you think i'm hiding definitely can't stay hidden forever. now please open the door."

"not until you tell me."

"you're not going to make this easy are you." i said walking around. i walked into the kitchen. when she was out of view for a second i lept into a shadow and disappeared. she came bolting in a second later.

i had learned to use most of my powers when i'm not in my shadow form but they aren't as effective. in my shadow form i literally turn into the shadow i'm hiding in and can hide in any shadow. but right now i could only stay in shadows that i could fit in.

she looked around the kitchen frantically. i silently jumped from shadow to shadow. when i was in the shadows i had daft feet so i made absolutely no sound while i was hiding. i finally got into the other room

"Where the hell did he go." i heard from the other room. it was kind of funny hiding from her. maybe she did deserve to know. but not now. i was too busy messing with her. she came into the living room and looked around frantically. i couldn't help but laugh.

"where are you." she said turning around and looking everywhere. i probably shouldn't have laughed but it was too damn funny. she started walking over and i walked along the shadows to the other side of the room near the door. i looked at the door and it was still locked. it was a magic lock. only twilight could open it.

"come on crimson what the hell." she said looking around. i looked around for an open window or something. i headed upstairs. it was darker than the rest of the house. i looked around and walked into one of the rooms. i saw that the window to the balcony was unlocked. i unlocked it and walked out. i spread my wings and flew away. not far though.

that was pretty fun. i wonder who else i can mess with. i flew around and landed on a cloud near the woods. i had a pretty great idea. i jumped off and flew down under the cloud. i used it to block out the sun around me and i was invisible again.

i grabbed the cloud and carried it with me. now i was just a wandering cloud. i flew around until i found my next target...rainbowdash. i silently flew up to her. she was sleeping in a tree. i get close to her and bumped her with the cloud. she woke up and looked next to her. she seemed confused.

"what the hey..." she said. "what are you doing down here." for a second i thought she could see me but i remembered that she talked to clouds like they were pets. "get out of here." she said. she winded up to buck the cloud and i pulled it back. she missed and almost fell out of the tree.

"wha- get back here." she said. i started to float away. this was going to be fun. i spent at least 20 minutes running away from her as she tried to break the cloud i was holding. it was a bit risky because then if she broke it i would be visible again.

after awhile of me trying my best to not laugh i brought the cloud up to the cloud layer and slipped above the clouds before she could get here. mission accomplished. i burst out laughing and she flew up.

"what the hell are you laughing at." she said. she seemed a little angry.

"having trouble catching a cloud dash." i said still snickering.

"shut up." she said stomping on the clouds.

"oh lighten up." i said. "c'mon lets go get a beer or something." i said walking across the clouds. me and dash went and got a beer...or two... or more. i was just barely drunk and i started using my powers to subtly mess with everypony in town. it was the most fun i've had in awhile.

when it was getting dark i started heading back home. i walked down the path to my house and got on the matt. fumbled around in my bag to find the key. i went to put the key in the lock but the door was cracked open a bit. this was serious now. i put on a straight face and walked in. sitting in my living room where all my friends. they didn't seem disappointed or upset so they probably didn't know i was messing with them. except for twilight...that one was pretty obvious.

"hey guys." i said

"crimson we need to talk." said twilight.

"oh boy." i said closing the door behind me. "well you see i just got home yesterday and i'm really drunk so..." i said walking past them.

"we ain't leavin till you talk ta us." said applejack.

"there are blankets and pillows in the closet to you're right...night guys." i said walking up the stairs.

"CRIMSON BLAST come back here now." yelled twilight.

"ugh. you guys really want to know what happened don't you." none of them said anything they just stared. "ugh you guys are killing me." i said.

"just tell us." rainbow said.

"this isn't the kind of thing that can be explained. and it's not like i can just tell you and everything will be all fine and dandy. this is pretty big."

"oh now i only want to know more...Tell us" said pinkie bouncing in front of my face.

"i don't care how many times a day you guys bother me i can't tell you just yet."

"then we'll just bother you for every waking moment of your life."

"not if you can't find me." i said. i bolted upstairs and dove into one of the shadows. the six others followed up after me.

"maybe we don't have to do this." said fluttershy.

"i'm with fluttershy." said rarity.

"come on girls we need to know what happened. he has changed i'm telling you. something is definitely different."

"i can agree to that twilight but give the guy a break." said rarity. twilight was very contempt with finding out.

"*sigh* you're right rarity we shouldn't be doing this." she said she perked her head up and put a hoof over her mouth. "alright crimson were going." aww over so soon. i followed the six of them downstairs. the five others left and went home. but twilight stayed. she took a seat in the livingroom. "crimson can you come here...i want to apologize."

i didn't want to talk to her my head was already pounding from the alcohol. i waited for her to leave. after a minute she got up and left. i walked out of the shadows and headed upstairs. i hopped into my bed and went to sleep.

i woke up the next morning and continued with my regular routine. i showered ate and headed into ponyville. while i was walking through ponyville i noticed that there were quite a few guards everywhere. i stopped and asked one of the guards what was going on.

"excuse me sir but why are there so many guards around." i asked.

"there have been reports of a dragon nearby and we need to make sure it doesn't lay waste to this town." i have to admit that was a good reason to keep guards around. but i could also use this opportunity to make a big entrance.

if the dragon does attack ponyville then i can stop it and be a hero...or a freak of nature. it can go either way. i was willing to try though, besides i can't keep this a secret forever.

i continued my day on the alert. and then it happened my chance. there was a roar from the south side of the market and a few ponies ran away screaming. the guards converged on the location. i looked around the corner and saw flames shoot out from around a house. a few guards went flying and i ran over.

i turned the corner and saw the dragon destroying that side of the town. a few houses were on fire and so were a few guards. the dragon wasn't like some hulking monster it was big but not a giant. i started to walk over when somepony grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the house.

"are you CRAZY." said twilight staring me in the face. she was with applejack and rainbow dash. rarity, fluttershy and pinkie were on the building to the opposite side.

"let me go."

"no."

"twilight there's something you need to see." i said pulling myself lose. i stood up and turned the corner. the dragon had finished off the guards and was munching on their barbecued corpses. i got a bit closer and it looked over at me. it growled and stood up. the spines on its back stuck up like razors.

when i was only a few feet from the dragon i closed my eyes and concentrated. i pulled as many shadows to me as i could. they were everywhere. there was a dark flash and a loud noise. there was a puff of smoke and i had transformed. the smoke cleared and i let everypony take in the sight.

i used a later trick and pulled some of the shadows up and farmed a sort of armour. it was part body armour not covering my joints or my face. it was spiked and as dark as the night. i took a deep breath and spread my wings open to look menacing. i opened my eyes and the dragon was still growling at me.

i concentrated and sprouted a few tentacles around me. the only thing i knew was going to be challenging was explaining this later. the dragon took a step forward and shot flames from its mouth. i put up a shield and watched as the flames danced around me.

the flames stopped and i dropped the shield. as i collected my vision i noticed that the dragons claw was growing closer to my face. i jumped back and it barely scraped my left cheek. i jumped back and threw one of the tentacles towards him. it curved around and pierced him in the leg. the dragon roared and released another torrent of fire.

it breathed fire aimlessly everywhere. i ducked out of the way and into the shadows and disappeared. i ran around behind him and popped out of the shadows. i jumped up and landed on the dragons back . i stuck two tentacles into his back were his shoulder blades were. the dragon roared again and threw me off of his back.

i hit the ground with a thud. before i could get up the dragon whipped me with his tail and sent me flying. i hit a tree and tore right through it. i hit the wall of a house and broke through. i landed in what looked like the kitchen of the house. i didn't know i had resistance like that. pretty sick. i looked over and there were two terrified mares shaking in the corner.

i flew back out of the house. i flew back into the middle of the street. the dragons tail landed on top of my back and crushed me to the ground. i fired an curved wave of shadow from the nearby alleyway and cut off the dragons tail. it roared again and fell to the ground. the blood from the tail got everywhere.

i stepped onto the dragons back and onto its neck. i formed a sword made of shadows and held it above the dragons head. i thrust the sword down and the dragon was still. the fight was over. i looked around and everything was on fire and at least 30 guards were either torched, eaten. or both. i stepped down from the dragon covered in blood.

there was a mass of ponies in front of me. there was no cheering. but there was no screaming either. only silence. the faces of the ponies before me showed only confusion but fear as well. i looked over the crowd and saw my group of friends. their faces were no different.

i returned to normal and put my head down. i wanted to say something but i couldn't find the right words. i spread my wings and flew as fast as i could to my house. i got there and i slammed the door. i locked it shut and shut all the blinders for the windows until my house was completely dark. i was fine though. i developed nightvision while training with the princess.

i went up to my bed and slumped down. i didn't know what to do now. i was all alone and confused. i kept thinking of what i would do now. this was going to be tough. maybe i should just stay away and let them settle into the fact that i was some sort of freak.

"oh well too late now." i thought to myself. i pulled the covers of the bed over myself and tried to go to sleep. it was a bit hard because of all the thinking i was doing, but eventually my thoughts put me to sleep. what have i done?


	21. Chapter 21: Nothing More Now I Can Do

i woke up and looked around my dark room. i had no idea what time it was. i walked over to the shades and pulled them apart it was night time. maybe i could go for a walk. i didn't grab anything...i didn't need it. i opened the door and went out. as i walked around i didn't see anypony. if i had to guess it was maybe a bit after midnight.

i walked around and accidentally came across the street where the battle was. the area was torched and stained with blood. some of the guard corpses were so burnt that they stuck to the ground. they had not yet disposed of the dragons corpse but they did manage to move it down the street.

i passed by the street trying not to step on any bodies. there were broken houses all around. when i finally got off the street i continued my way around town. i passed by twilight's, pinkie's, and rarities. i got to my old neighborhood when i heard a scream from the alleyway. i walked into the alleyway and saw a hooded pony holding a mare by the neck.

i collected a mass of shadows from under me and used one of the tentacles to grab the assailant. when i grabbed him he freaked out. but he really freaked out when he saw my face. i held him in the air and when whipped him into a wall. i heard a crunch and a scream. he then probably either died or was knocked out from the pain.

"are you alright." i said to the mare. i expected her to scream and cower like the rest. but she didn't. she blushed and shyed away.

"oh it's...it's you." she said. "uhm...thank you." she said and she quickly ran past me and out of the alleyway. that was odd. i didn't even know her. i walked out of the alley way and went home. i got home and went back to bed and slept.

i woke up the next morning and showered. i took a long shower today. i needed to think. when i was done i dried off and headed downstairs. i got breakfast and grabbed the paper from outside. i looked at the heading and i was shocked.

"the hero among us: yesterday the town was maliciously attacked by a rampaging dragon. 34 royal guards sacrificed their lives to stop the beast but to no avail. not until local stallion Crimson blast confronted the dragon. using nothing but an unorthodox method of magic he alone beat the dragon and without a serious injury as well. the dragon is to be removed from the streets that were destroyed in the battle. the ceremony for the fallen guards is today at four. construction to repair the street will begin tomorrow."

this is ridiculous i'm a celebrated hero. i guess that the ponies reaction was much different than i suspected. but still i can't just walk into town like nothing happened. but like i have mentioned before i'm not the kind of person who can stay in their house all day by themselves. i need to get outside and do something.

i slowly opened the door to make sure the coast was clear. it was there was nopony around. i gathered a few shadows and jumped into the shadows of the tree's. with my shadow form on i can fit into any shadow. i could even jump into the shadows of a pony and stalk them all day.

i silently made my way into town. i looked around and they were carrying the bodies of guards off into a few coffins that were in the center of town. i've never seen so many coffins in one place. i averted my eyes. i didn't want to see that right now.

i passed through town and i came across twilight's house. i suppose i owe her an apology. i knocked on the door from the safety of the shadows. twilight opened the door and looked around. she almost just left before i called her.

"by the window twilight." i said.

"huh who's there." she said. she walked over to the window and looked around. i turned off my shadows and turned myself visible again from behind her. i taped on her back and she jumped. she turned and looked at me. "oh thank celestia it's you."

"hey twi." i said in a gloomy voice.

"what was that yesterday...i've never seen anything like it."

"don't worry about that."i said. "how are the others."

"well everypony is feeling the same except for rarity. i haven't seen her since yesterday." she said looking down. "come to think of it i don't remember seeing rainbow dash recently either."

"alright i have to go." i said turning invisible again.

"wait..." she said but it was too late i was gone. i made my way to rarities house hiding in the shadows. when i got to here street the whole thing was too bright. there weren't any shadows for me to hide in that were big enough. i guess i had to make a run for it. rarity's house had a big shadow around it. if i could get there i could hide again. i looked around and there were ponies in their front lawns.

i gathered a few shadows around my wings and spread them out. i had to make a mad dash for it. maybe if i go fast enough they won't notice. i got ready and i flew by. in a few short seconds i was at rarity's house hiding in the shadows. i looked back and noticed i had created a nice gust of wind behind me.

the ponies looked around confused and started to look around. they weren't going to find me. i knocked on the door and waited still invisible. the door opened and i expected to see rarity. when nopony was there i looked down and saw sweetie belle standing there looking outside. i quickly slipped inside and changed to my shadow from so i could hide in her shadow.

i was hiding in her shadow and she walked me in unknowingly. i looked around and noticed applebloom and scootaloo where here too. sweetie ran over to them but i took the chance and snaked across the ground to a different shadow.

"c'mon girls we need to get this card done for rarity." said sweetie belle.

"no we should be looking for crimson...he's so awesome." said scootaloo. aww i had a fan how cute. i didn't make much of it and i went upstairs. it was plenty dark up here. i walked over to the last door in the hallway. rarity's room. i knocked on the door.

"please go away sweetie belle" i heard from inside. i looked down at the crack of the door. there wasn't any light shining through so it was dark on the other side. i quietly slipped under the door and into rarities room. she was lying in bed by herself. her eyes were puffy and red. she was crying earlier.

her hair was a mess and her eye shadow and mascara were running down her face a little bit. i walked over to her. i felt bad that she felt this way. i took a seat on her bad and left an imprint of my bottom on her bed. she probably felt the weight shift and she looked up. i turned visible again and looked at her.

"hey baby." i said in a soft voice. i saw a few tears welling up in her eyes and she flung herself at me. she grabbed me and pulled me into bed with her. she put her face on my shoulder and started crying. she held onto me like a stuffed teddy bear. i put my hooves around her and patted her on the back trying to comfort her.

"it''s alright baby." i said trying to get her to calm down. "it's alright nothing can hurt you now. i'm here." she stopped crying and managed to try and say something.

"*sniff*...why didn't you tell anypony." she asked.

"because i was afraid something like this would happen." i said. she continued to sob over my shoulder. "it's alright now i'll do anything for you." i said trying to reassure her and make her happy. "what do you want me to do baby."

"just...*sniff*...just please don't leave me." she said.

"then i will lay here with you forever and then some." i said. i held onto her tight and she continued to sob. when her sobbing stopped i was sure she was asleep. i laid her and her side in a more comfortable position and i held onto her. i pulled the blankets over us with a claw i used from the shadows. i then turned off the lamp next to the bed. the room grew dark and i laid there with her.

i didn't sleep i just sat there and stared at her. she seemed so peaceful now. it reminded me of the times when during the winter we would just cuddle by the fire and tell jokes and stories. that was back when things were simple.

when i started to think about how my life has changed i started thinking of my own world. when you think about it, so much has changed it's not even funny. i used to be a n ex navy seal now working as a special unit's security guard for a maximum security outpost in the united states.

not i'm a pegasus pony in the land on equestria who is wealthy and has absorbed the powers of an ancient demon and is now celebrated as a town hero. what the hell went wrong. or what went different i should say. my whole time here wasn't one big act, i truly felt like this. i loved rarity and she loved me. i care for my friends and they do the same.

i continued to think and there was a knock on the door and rarity woke up. i knew it was the three fillies with a card from rarity. in a split second i had to decide if i wanted to turn invisible and avoid contact with the three fillies and abandon rarity like that or if i was going to stay visible and make rarity happy.

the choice was obvious. i just laid there and smiled at rarity. she turned around and the door flung open. it was the three fillies with a big pink card with some scribbles on it. applebloom flipped the light switch and i was completely visible now.

"hey sis we got you a card." she said. suddenly i made eye contact with the three of them and they stopped.

"hey it's him." scootaloo said perking up. she rushed over to the bed and smiled at me. "hey crimson what's up." i didn't say anything. i just stared at her with an expressionless face. the other two came over and handed the card to rarity.

"oh thank you girls it's quite thoughtful of you to do this." she said "but if you don't mind i would like to be alone with crimson right now." she said. the three fillies left. ut they had to drag scootaloo out of the room.

"aww c'mon i just want to talk to him." scootaloo said. "please."

"lets go scootaloo." said applebloom. the three fillies left and rarity flicked off the lights. she laid back down and stared me in the eyes. i stared back and smiled.

"your sister is sweet." i said.

"well that's why she's sweetie belle." she said with a smile. i laughed a bit and she giggled too. she stared into my eyes again and leaned in closer to me. she brought her head closer to mine and our lips locked. she put her hooves around me and pulled me closer to her.

i closed my eyes and tried to remember the old times when things were simple. i she pulled away and rested her head on my neck. she laid down and smiled.

"remember when we used to sit around the fireplace and tell stories..." i said.

"yeah that was fun."

"why can't things be like that again...why can't things ever be simple."

"if things were simple then life wouldn't be any fun." she said. "maybe someday whatever changes occur in our life will become normal and we will hope for something different."

"you always know what to say baby." i said closing my eyes.

"hey honey."

"yeah baby." i said

"sing me a song please." she said smiling i laughed.

"alright." i laid on my back and she rested her head on my chest.

"replay last night...talking it out don't make it right...i know she's tried...but my whole world, is her and all we've got now, and if you go...i won't believe...that it's forever...i won't let go...even if she...says that its over...i know it'll, be different this time... if you just stay." i sang. i was singing an old song by one of my favorite punk rock bands...the offspring.

"and when we wrote this story...how did it end? it was you and me for all our lives...come on don't say it, we'll try again and if i'd just hold you...we could last, but she stands softly...tears down her face...hitting me oh god, this is the end...i'd wait here for you... but there's nothing more now i can do...because i love you...ooh i love you."

rarity was asleep on my chest. i finally felt normal again for a little bit. i kissed her on the forehead and rested my hand on her back. i let the feeling of her beating heart put me to sleep. i started to dream.

i woke up in my dream. i was in a familiar white plane. i looked around and saw the demon pony i had defeated. he was bound to two columns of light with chains. he no longer bore that evil grin on his face instead he was faceless. i walked over and stood by him. i was human again.

"you think yourssself a hero." he said. "you are not... you have not comprehensssion on the powersss you hold. and when you break i will be there to sssmash the pieces."

"you have no idea what i'm capable of." i said

"mayhapsss not, but can you anssswer that quessstion yourssself." he said. i hated that lisp of his. but he was right. he made it sound like i haven't even touched the surface of the power i have now.

before i could say another thing the whiteness turned to black and i started to wake up. i looked around and i saw rarity sitting on my chest shaking me. she was crying. i couldn't hear anything but it sounded like she was calling my name.

"crimson...crimson please wake up." she said, tears dripping down her face and onto my neck. "please wake up." i opened my eyes fully and looked at her. her expression changed and i leaned in and hugged her.

"what's wrong baby...what happened."

"i was scared... i've been trying to wake you up for the last twenty minutes. you were barely breathing. i was so scared." she said grabbing onto my coat

"i'm so,so,so sorry baby i promise i didn't mean it. i don't even know what happened i felt like i was only out for a few minutes." she cried over my shoulder and clenched onto my fur with her hooves. "hey hey...baby don't cry...you'll make me cry too..." i said. she looked at me. i really did have tears welling up in my eyes.

i could see that she was confused and in a lot of pain. i didn't like to see her like this. it made me feel horrible for making her feel like this. i felt like it was all my fault and it might as well be since i can't find anyone else to blame.

"it's alright baby...just tell me what to do and i'll make it i'll make it all better. i will fix everything."

she pulled her head off of my shoulder. she stared at me with tears in her eyes. i wiped the tears from her eyes. she leaned in quickly and planted a kiss on my lips. i fell back and she fell ontop of me. she pushed her lips harder against mine and delved her tongue into my mouth. i pushed mine into her mouth and we made out for a while. she wrapped her hands around my waist and pulled me closer.

she broke away and looked at me. she started welling up again but she wasn't going to burst out crying. she seemed even more upset than before i don't know why.

"crimson."

"yeah baby."

"i can't do this anymore." she said. i didn't like the sound of those words.

"come on honey we can make it through this." i said. i had started to get a bit of water in my eyes.

"i know you can make it through this but i can't. i just can't."

"no baby don't say that. i-i can help you...we can..." i said but she cut me off by putting her hoof on my mouth.

"i can't do it...if you killed yourself over me i would be worse off than ever before. or ever after that. i just- i just can't do it." i was on the verge of bursting into tears but i swallowed my sorrow for now.

"so this is it." i said.

"i'm sorry." she said. she looked down as if she was ashamed to look at me.

"can we still be friends."

"we will be the best of friends."

"can i get one last kiss." i said.

"sure." she said smiling. she leaned in and pressed her lips up against mine. we held that kiss for at least five minutes before she leaned back. we both got up and i headed over to the door. "goodbye crimson." she said.

"goodbye rarity." i said walking out the door. i made my way outside and i looked around. it was daytime but everything was dark to me. i walked around with my head slumped down and i sang to myself the only song i could think of right now.

"and when we wrote this story...how did it end? it was you and me for all our lives...come on don't say it, we'll try again and if i'd just hold you...we could last, but she stands softly...tears down her face...hitting me oh god, this is the end...i'd wait here for you... but there's nothing more now i can do... now there's nothing more now i can do."

i looked behind me. there was a crowd of ponies. i was so depressed i forgot to hide from everypony. they all looked at me with smiles on their faces. it only tormented me further. i turned and kept walking. i didn't care about beeing seen by the other ponies.

some of them rushed up to me and started asking me questions. soon a few more followed then the rest. it was too crowded for me to expend my wings and fly away so i used my shadows to push everypony away. i flapped my wings and floated up to the cloud layer. i sat on the edge and looked down at the ponies who stared up at me.

a few of the pegasus ponies flew up after me but i ran away. i finally outran them and took my seat on a cloud above the park. i laid back and looked up at the sky. i felt like crying and running away. but i couldn't force the tears from my face.

i stared at the sky for what seemed like all day. i felt the cloud shift and soon rainbow dash stuck her head over me.

"sup champ... those were some pretty sick moves. how'd you learn to do that." she said. she was one of the most level headed ponies i've met all day.

"please go away rainbow dash."

"alright what's up. town got you running ragged."

"no i don't mind them."

"so then what's wrong."

"*sigh* me and rarity are over. she broke up with me." i said. the second i said that i remembered almost everything about that moment. it was painful to remember.

"oh dude that's tough." she said sitting down next to me. "you wanna talk about it."

"no im... well i was going to say that i was fine, but then i would be lying."

"ouch was it a hard breakup..."

"no it was a traumatic one... for her to i'm guessing." i said. i rolled around and laid on my stomach. i put my head in the clouds and laid there.

"c'mon you saved the entire town with you're freaky powers you're going to let this get you down."

"yes." i said muffled by the clouds. she didn't say anything she just started kicking me in the side. "stop it." i said with my face still in the clouds.

"no i'm going to kick your ass back into shape now get up."

"no" i said.

"fine then."

"she kicked me harder this time and i went lying off the cloud. i plummeted to the ground. i wasn't afraid. i've practiced this. there was a shadow of a house on the ground. i fell and went right through the shadow of the house. it was a portal from here i could go anywhere i've already been. i just decided to pop myself back onto the cloud.

the ground vanished and i was falling from above the cloud. i landed on the cloud and buried my face into it again. i was too lazy to go anywhere else.

"damnit you're not going to make this easy are you." i shook my head no. she sighed and sat down next to me. "c'mon don't make this hard on me. i'm not good with things like this."

i stayed silent. she put a hoof on my back and rubbed it up and down. she took a deep breath and sighed.

"look i know how you feel. i remember the day i lost both of my parents. that's why i went to flight school at an early age. i was an orphan until i graduated then i moved here." i had no idea she was an orphan. that was interesting.

"i've had almost no sex life or even somepony to lay with in bed and just be there for. i think you were lucky to have a relationship as great as that with rarity, and i totally think it sucks that it ended the way you say it did. it doesn't make sense but shit happens and we have to deal with it."

she was right. i pulled my head from the clouds and sat up. i wiped the tears from my face and looked at rainbow dash. she smiled at me and i smiled back weakly.

"thanks dash...that helped a lot."

"and don't make too much of it. you'll probably be on your hooves within a week, a month at most"

"yeah you're probably right."

"see you're already feeling better..." she said walking over to the edge of the cloud and spreading her wings. "now c'mon lets go get wasted and drown out those sorrows."

"that sounds like one hell of an idea" i said i walked over and we both flew down to the bar. we drank until it got dark. the bartender continued to insist that my drinks were free because i saved the town. i paid him anyway. when we left the bar i stumbled around town.

rainbow dash flew off back home and i was too drunk to fly. i was too drunk to realize where i was going. before i knew where i was i was stopped by two ponies in hoods.

"hey bro... why don't you let me hold a few bits."

"yeah bro." it was so obvious that they were mugging me that i laughed. "you think this is funny bro." the second one said. he pulled out a knife from one of his hoodie pockets. oh no small knives. i laughed harder.

i stopped laughing and stared them both down. it was hard to see but i had called my shadows to me. i was still laughing on the inside.

"oh dude what's wrong with your face."

the street light above us lit up and brought a bit of light to the situation. when the light reached me it was now obvious to see the tentacles and shadows swaying around me. before the two could run i grabbed them both by their hind legs.

i held them upside down. i brought them closer to me and held a bladed shadow to both of their necks. the one on the left pissed himself. it was rather amusing to watch since he is upside down. i stood there and stared down my two victims. suddenly my head was filled with all sorts of fun thing i could do to make them suffer. i'm not sure if that was either the beer, the demon, or if i really was thinking like that.

"no please dude we're sorry."

"yeah just please don't hurt us"

"i don't know... i mean i'm pretty drunk and reckless right now... and i did just go through a really bad break up with my mare friend...as far as i see it, if you two disappear ponyville would be a nicer place."

"no no we're sorry we'll never mug anypony again... we promise just please stop."

"yeah please stop." they both looked like they were going to cry. i almost wanted to see them cry but they had enough. i brought them closer to my face and stared at them with the most evil face i could think of.

"alright fine only because i'm tired. but always remember...I'M WATCHING YOU." i said with the deepest voice i could muster up. i dropped the two of them to the ground and watched them scramble away.

i walked away too. i walked around a bit and found myself at twilight's house. i looked through her window. and with my vision it was bright as day in there. i saw her sitting on top of stargrazer. she leaned in and kissed him. lucky her. i didn't stay and watch for multiple reasons. one being that it made me depressed.

i tried finding my way home but i never did. i plopped down on a park bench and fell asleep. i slowly worked my way back into a depressed state and started to cry myself to sleep. i don't know how long it took but i fell asleep eventually.

i woke up the next morning with a killer headache. i saw that e few ponies had been standing around me.

"he's up." one of them said. that seemed to be an invitation for all of them to bombard me with questions. i was too hungover for this. i tried to escape the crowd but it was too thick. i tried to get off the bench but i barely did. i went over the back but was surrounded by ponies again.

i pushed my way across the park. i had had enough of this. the constant voices drowned out my train of thoughts and i became overwhelmed. i gathered my shadows and my eyes grew black. i concentrated for one second and lost it.

"STOP!" i yelled. the force i used sent everypony flying back a few feet. they were lucky i didn't do that full force or the entire park would be destroyed. i used that chance to slip into the shadows and fly away. i flew onto the nearest cloud i could find and returned to normal.

i sat down and felt the cloud shift. i looked back expecting to see more fans. it was rainbow dash again.

"way to cause a scene champ."

"yeah i know...i'm getting good at it." i said. she laughed.

"you sure are."

"so what do you want."

"well i just got word that the young flyers competition is going to be next wednesday. and they're allowing team flying. i was wondering if you wanted to fly with me."

"sounds interesting."

"yeah and the winners get to spend the rest of the day with the wonderbolts." she said. she seemed a bit excited about that part. i thought it over for a bit. it did sound like fun. this could be the thing i need to pull me out of this rut.

"alright dash you're on."

"awesome we can start training tomorrow... i've got a few surprises in store for when the contest starts."

"sweet." i had some too. using my shadows i discovered i could reach speeds close to that of sound. if i could go faster than maybe i can make some kind of sonic explosion and rocket past everypony. it would be awesome.

"so what's this trick of yours." i asked.

"i call it the sonic rainboom." she said. she started explaining what it was and how she did it before. it sounded like the greatest thing ever. i hope mine turns out like that. "too bad i'm the only pony who can fly that fast." she said. oh it was on now.

"i beg to differ." i said with a smirk.

"so you think you can fly faster than me." she said. i didn't answer i stood up and covered myself in shadows. i expanded my wings and they covered themselves in darkness. i flew up into the air.

"yes i do." i said. i flew straight up and up and up. i was way out of sight. i took this opportunity now. i flew straight down. and started rocketing through the sky. i started trailing shadow smoke behind me and a light sonic barrier formed around me. it grew brighter and brighter and i found it harder to fly but i kept going.

i almost made it when the barrier became too tough. i stopped right in front of rainbow dash. she stared at me and i looked back. then the barrier slingshot me across town. i flew through the air for a minute unable to gather myself. i finally collided with the ground.

i skidded across the ground for at least a quarter mile. i tore through tree's and a rock. the rock really hurt. i saw apples flying past my face as i barreled through and past tree's. shit i think i just destroyed applejacks orchard. she is going to be so pissed.

i finally stopped and skid on the ground for a few feet. that hurt like a bitch. i looked at myself. i couldn't hear anything i was too dazed. i saw i had huge jagged chunks of wood sticking out of me and cuts and scrapes everywhere.

i moved around a bit and nothing was broken...somehow. i could hear faint yelling from behind me. i tried to listen but i was too dazed. as my hearing came back and my vision focused i saw applejack standing above me with her face flushed red with anger.

"what the hell is wrong with ya... ya'll disappear for a few days and now you destroyed mah farm."

"what... oh my head." i said. i rubbed my head.

"ya'll got some explaining to do."

"thanks for making sure i'm alright."

"yer fine now explain."

"can we skip the explaining part and i can just go and fix your damn tree's"

"now how are ya'll going to do that." i got up and walked over to one of the tree's. i used my shadows to pick it up and place it back on the stump. it stayed for a sec. i walked over and grabbed my bags that had made it all this way with me. i grabbed a vial of green liquid from my bag and brought it over to the tree. i was lucky it didn't shatter.

when i was at the princesses i did make a few potions from that book and i was content on making more so i borrowed that book from twilight. i took out a little dropper and put a drop on the soil next to the tree. the bark and wood started to grow back and the leaves grew back too. soon a few lush apples decorated the tree and it was fixed.

"there that's how i'm going to fix your damn trees now are you done yelling at me because i really don't feel too good right now."

"uhh... yeah sorry fer the yelling... need some help."

"it's fine." i said. i grabbed a chunk of wood sticking out of my side and yanked it out. a few shadows covered it and it healed. i started ripping chunks out of my legs and stomach and my shadows healed them. i didn't bother wasting my time on the little cuts and bruises. they would just heal in like a day.

"gosh i'm not used tah lookin at ya this way." said applejack.

"yeah things have changed." i said pulling another chunk of would out of my neck. i grit my teeth in pain and i started bleeding profusely. the shadows covered my body and the bleeding stopped. "now see if i was not the way i was i would more than likely be dead and my corpse still lying over there in that hole." i said pointing to the hole i stopped in.

"well thank goodness for that." she said. "so i heard about you and rarity"

"how do you already know about that." i said cutting her off.

"well pinkie told me and i guess rainbow dash told pinkie."

"yeah and i told rainbow dash."

"you alright sugarcube."

"yeah i'm fine." i said lying again "alright i lied i'm not fine but i'm getting better."

"alright... you sure you don't need no help." she said.

"yeah i'm fine." i said pulling out a few smaller pieces of wood. i pulled out a few more and then i heard a voice up in the sky. it was quiet enough that only my ears could hear it from down here.

"oh shit oh shit... where is he... shit." it was rainbow dash. i looked up and she was following the trail of wreckage to find me. i shouted out to her.

"Down here rainbow dash." i said. she noticed me and dived right towards me. i let her tackle me to the ground and she landed on top of me and hugged me.

"oh thank celestia you're alright." she said "i shouldn't have let you try that."

"oh and like you would have survived."

"shut up." she said. not jokingly. she was serious right now. her eyes were starting to tear up.

"hey hey. it's alright i'm fine."

"trust me partener he didn't look as pretty as he did right now when i found him." said applejack. rainbow whipped the tears from her eyes and got off of me. she stood up and i got up too.

"you sure you're alright."

"well considering we were in the park before, and now we're in apple jacks farm. i'd guess that if i wasn't alright i would be dead"

"alright but i was scared. i honestly thought you were dead."

"i'm fine. i've got more secrets than you think." some darker than others. i thought to myself. "thankfully my resistance is incredible."

"c'mon lets go practice a bit. without getting you killed."

"i have to fix apple jacks tree's first." i said

"alright i guess i can help."

"that might be hard for you." i said walking over to another tree. i picked it up with my shadow hands and put it back in place. i put a drop of the green potion on it and let it heal. "see." i said

"alright well i'll let you do that. when you're done meet me in the park."

i spent the good time of two hours fixing the apple orchard. after i was done i gave the rest of the green potion to applejack to help with her crops in the future and i flew away to the park. i got to the park and found rainbow sitting in a tree.

i flew over and sat down next to her. i took my seat and let my feet hang off the tree. i looked over and saw that the sun was setting. it looked beautiful. the sky was a wonderful shade of purple and red. it was a beautiful spring sunset.i sat there with dash and waited for her to say something.

"so are we gonna go and practice." i said.

"nah...it's kinda late...i thought that maybe we could watch the sunset together."

"alright." i said. i think i knew what was happening. i could tell she wanted to be with me. being the way i am now i can read peoples aura's and emotion. she had a bright pink aura. that means she was in love and i think i knew who with.

i smiled and watched the sunset. i put my hoof around her shoulder and pulled her into me. she blushed and leaned against me. the sun fell and and was halfway down.

"don't think i haven't noticed dash." i said.

"noticed what." she asked blushing.

"i know you like me."

"what...i uh..." she said blushing. "do...do you like me too." she said. she looked at me with her bright magenta eyes. i stared back at her. the wind picked up and blew my hair into my eyes. she brought her face closer to mine and brushed my hair away.

she leaned in closer and closed her eyes. i leaned in to and our lips met. she kissed me gently and wrapped her hooves around me. i kissed her back and we sat in the tree making out. the sun was still dropping in the distance but all i was focused on was her.

she opened her eyes and looked at me. i stared back at her. she leaned back against the trunk of the tree and pulled me into her. she wrapped her hands around the back of my head and i put my hooves around her waist.

she broke the kiss and smiled. she put her head on my shoulder slid her hooves down my back. i looked over at the sunset and the sun was nearly gone. i leaned over and we both fell out of the tree. i caught us with a few shadows and lowered us gently to the ground.

i rested myself against the tree and she rested on me. she looked around and saw she was on the ground now. she looked at me and smiled. i smiled back. she leaned in and kissed me again for a little bit then took her head away. she crawled up to me and i held her close.

the cool spring breeze kicked in as the sun fell over the hills. it grew darker and colder. i sat there and shielded her from the dark and cold and she smiled. i wrapped the two of us in a blanket of shadows. the shadows picked the two of us up and drifted us up to the clouds. i laid us down and the shadows dissipated.

i pulled over some of the cloud and used it as a blanket. cloud beds were the best. i should consider getting one. i laid there with rainbow dash and we cuddled together. i brushed against her and rubbed her side. the night sky showed itself and i stared up at the stars. she turned onto her back as well and looked up at the night sky.

she put her hooves around me and pulled herself closer to me. she smiled and closed her eyes. i felt her fall to sleep as her breathing pattern change. i stared up at the stars and let the feeling of rainbows heartbeat put me to sleep. i closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22: Captivity

i woke up and let my eyes adjust. when i opened my eyes i stared at the sun and i burnt my eyes. i looked away from the sun and over to rainbow dash. i started to remember what had happened. i got mixed feelings. i was so happy that i was with rainbow but i was still sad about rarity. and i was confused too what was i going to do. i was excited for the competition on wednesday but scared that rarity might not talk to me if i date rainbow.

i did the only thing i could think to do to calm myself down. i started to sing.

"if you go...i won't believe...that it's forever...i won't let go...even if she...says that its over...i know it'll, be different this time... if you just stay." i saw rainbow waking up and looking at me. she started to smile as i kept singing.

"...and when we wrote this story...how did it end? it was you and me for all our lives...come on don't say it, we'll try again and if i'd just hold you...we could last, but she stands softly...tears down her face...hitting me oh god, this is the end...i'd wait here for you... but there's nothing more now i can do... now there's nothing more now i can do."

that was the only song i could think of right now. it was like all the other songs i knew didn't exist or didn't seem appropriate. i finished the song and laid on my back.

"you still upset." said rainbow. she buried her head in my chest until i could only see her eyes. it was cute. she stared at me with her big pink eyes and waited for me to tell her everything was better.

"no...i'm just... well i don't know." i said.

"do you want me to leave you alone. she said un burying her head.

"no it's fine...i want you to stay." i said.

"alright" she said. she laid back down and stretched. i let out a yawn and stretched my legs too. i looked over at her and smiled.

"wanna go practice for the competition."

"promise me you won't kill yourself."

"alright i promise." i said. i laughed a bit and she did too. i stood up and cracked my neck. she got up too and walked to the edge of the cloud. "ready." i said. before she answered i heard her stomach growl.

"maybe breakfast first." she said tilting her head. my stomach rumbled too.

"yeah breakfast sounds good."

we both flew down to the market and went to sugarcube corner. we met pinkie there and we caught up. we talked and she gave us both each a cupcake on the house. unfortunately i was really hungry for some reason so i ate like 20 bits more worth of food.

"damn you sure are hungry."

"well that accident yesterday should have killed me. i can't just repair my body with nothing. it takes protein and nutrition and all that crap. so basically i'm eating my weight in lost flesh."

"well that sounds lovely." she said taking a bite out of her cupcake.

"yeah...i've got a lot of neat tricks that could help us."

"like what." she asked.

"watch this." i said as pinkie walked by. i focused my energy and brought her shadow to life right behind her. i made it poke her on the back and pinkie turned around. she didn't act surprised but she smiled and chased it around.

the both of them bounced around together until i forced the shadow back into it's place. pinkie chased her regular shadow around until she realized that it wasn't alive anymore. she looked over at me and smiled. then went back into the kitchen.

"thats pretty cool." she said. "can you do anything else."

"hmm... lots of things. invisibility...uh...oh rapid healing, shadow armour... lets see what else, oh check this out." i said i put down a cupcake on the table. i raised its shadow and duplicated it. i handed it to her and she took a bite. she immediately spit it out in disgust. i laughed

"oh that tastes like shit." she said.

"yeah still working on it." she stuck her tongue out and scrapped it down with her hooves.

"maybe something else... lets see. oh yeah there is another thing...it's a bit unorthodox though." i said looking around.

"what is it."

"watch." i said. i melted into a shadow and slithered my way into the kitchen. i hopped into pinkies shadow and took control of her. i walked her out of the kitchen and to the table.

"hey pinkie what's crimson doing in there." she asked

"oh not much." i said with pinkies voice. i tried to hold back my laughter. but i couldn't and i burst out laughing.

"pinkie what's so funny." she said.

"rainbow it's me." i said in pinkies voice.

"what." she asked.

"wait hold on." i said still in pinkies voice. i cleared my throat and tried again. "hello rainbow dash." i said in my own voice. i started snickering again.

"what the hell." she said. i had enough fun with this. i rose out of pinkies shadow and let her have control back. she limped a bit and almost fell but picked herself up. she rubbed her head and seemed dazed.

"what happened" she said.

"oh nothing." i said rolling my eyes and smiling. i took a seat and rainbow smiled. pinkie walked back into the kitchen. "pretty cool huh."

"that was a bit mean." she said.

"yeah i know but it could have been worse." i said. she laughed and i did too. we walked over to the counter and i paid pinkie for the food and we left. we walked back to the park and practiced for the rest of the day. we eventually worked out a basic routine and practiced it for the entirety of the day.

eventually it got dark and the sun had set. i flew back down to the ground and dash followed me. i walked over and grabbed my things and slung them over my shoulder.

"hey why don't we go to my house and grab some dinner." she asked

"alright sure...come to think of it. i don't think i've ever been in you're house." i said.

"sweet lets go." she flew up into the sky and i followed her. we made our way past town and eventually a huge mansion of clouds appeared. it had a rainbow waterfall. it looked like a miniature castle. then again so did my house. but mine was more modern looking. we got there and stepped off onto the clouds.

she opened the door for me and i walked in. it was bigger inside than outside.

"welcome to my cloud mansion" she said walking into a different room.

"it's not that bad. much bigger than my house and it looks nice." i walked around. the flooring and foundation of the house was made of clouds and so we're was the furniture, but the appliances were not. i walked into the room she walked into. it was a kitchen. she was rummaging through the fridge and she pulled out a few sandwiches. she tossed me one and i ate it.

i don't know what kind of sandwich it was but it tasted good. she ate hers and kicked the fridge closed. i looked around and noticed there was allot of rugs and pictures and windows.

"what's up with all the decorations." i asked

"well when i first moved in it was just white walls and floors. it got really boring after a while so i decorated."

"not bad." i said looking around. the decals were nice. they weren't just random paintings. they were all painting of the outside and the different seasons. "why so many seasonal paintings." i asked

"i don't know i just like the outdoors and the sky. its relaxing. takes my mind off things."

"yeah i can relate to that."

"i especially love the springtime." she said. "the cool breeze, the birds and bee's. and i love the sunset." she really did i guess.

"so what do we do now." i asked. she covered her mouth and yawned.

"i don't know about you but i'm tired."

"yeah me too." we headed out of the kitchen and my hearing picked up something. "wait... do you hear that." i asked. sometimes its hard to tell if i'm the only pony who can hear something.

"hear what." she asked. i stayed still and listened. it sounded like a struggle. there was a screaming and shouting. i spread my wings and took off out of the house. rainbow followed behind me. i flew down to the streat and looked around.

in the middle of the street was a pony with a club and machette standing over a torn corpse. i touched down and gathered my shadows. rainbow touched down and turned away from the body. the body was mangle and thrown about.

vital organs scattered the ground and a trail of intestines wormed about. the ponies face was cut up and half the head was not attached revealing the brain. one of the eyes was torn from the socket and the lower jaw of the pony ripped from her head. it was sickening. rainbow threw up behind me.

the attacker only turned to me and laughed. he was covered in blood. he smiled and there were pieces of flesh and blood in his teeth. jesus christ i think he ate her. disgusting. i was not going to let this go bye.

"oh oh yes... i've been waiting for you." he said. he laughed hysterically. i put on some of my spiked shadow armour. he reached around and threw something at me. it was a vial. i stepped back. the vial hit the ground and there was a flash.

i didn't see it coming but i felt my armour and tentacles dissipate and i was blinded. i rubbed my eyes to make the light stop but it wouldn't go away. i was blind and defenseless. i backed up a bit. then the attacker hit me over the head with the club and laughed. he hit me again and again. i tried covering my head but he hit one of my arms. i felt a sharp pain in my side and jumped back in agony. he laughed again.

"get off of him you sick fuck." said rainbow. i shook my head to get my vision back but it wasn't working. i was blind. i could just hear some grunts and struggles.

"eat this you bitch." said the attacker. rainbow screamed then grew silent.

"you fuck i swear if you hurt her i'll kill you i said" there was no reply only laughter. "you sick fuck." i said getting onto my feet. i got up but he hit me on the head again. i felt something cold wrapping around my body. they were chains. i was soon being dragged.

"LET ME GO." i said yelling as hard as i could. i was about to use my force shout but i felt a little sting in my stomach and i couldn't move. i couldn't even speak. he paralyzed me. i was blinded beaten and being dragged.

after a bit i soon fell unconscious from the trauma. i was scared but i was going to kill him for this. no more mr. nice guy. i waited till i woke up and i was going to kill him. it was some time later that i woke up.

i could see again. i looked around to where i was. the room i was in was very brightly lit. there were no shadows anywhere. that's not good. i looked at were i was. i was in some kind of basement. it was cold and damp. i was chained to some kind of rack. there was blood on the floor and tools over on a table.

i heard a door open and somepony was walking down the stairs. i looked over and saw them. they had another pony with them. the pony was bound and gagged. he finally came down the stairs and threw the pony on the ground near me. it was an orange mare with orange curly hair. i recognized the pony as carrot top. she had a farm next to apple jacks.

she saw me and recognized me. she screamed and started crying. the pony walked over and i finally got a good look at him. he had dark blue fur and a brown mane. he had red eyes and a sinister smile. he was a unicorn.

"do you know me." he said.

"fuck you." i said.

"you killed my brother." he said holding up a picture. it was the pony from the party. i had beaten him up and sent him off to the police. "now its your turn..." he started laughing again maniacally. "you think you are a hero... a savior... lets see about that." he said laughing.

he walked over to a closet and put a few tools on a table that he then wheeled over. he grabbed the orange mare and strpped her to a table. she started screaming and crying into her gag. he chained her down and placed the tools beside her. she saw them and i could feel the terror in his eyes.

"so...hero...lets play a game shall we."

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU." i shouted. he laughed.

"thats the spirit." he said "so i'm going to chose a toy at random." i didn't like the way he mentioned them as toys." "and you're going to decide whether or not you are going to play with it... or her" he said with an evil smile. "now what's first." he said

he closed his eyes and put a hoof over them. he ran his hoof around the collection of tools and finally grabbed a little scalpel.

"oh goody this is a fun one... oh think of the things that can be done with such a small tool... think of the fun."

"YOU FUCK." i said shouting as hard as i could. i thrashed around but i was too restrained. the room shook when i shouted. i was going to shout him into pieces but it's too unstable and i don't want to hurt carrot top.

"now who's going to be the lucky one he said." he brought the scalpel over to the mare and slid it along her cheek. it cut her a little bit and she started screaming again.

"no stop it." i yelled. "not her...not her."

"oh you then." he said tilting his head.

"y-yes." i said hanging my head. i couldn't find a way out of this. he walked over with the scalpel and glided it over to my cutie mark. he started to cut into the skin. i clenched my teeth and closed my eyes. he slowly started to carve out my mark and i yelled in pain. he finally finished and the piece of flesh fell to the ground.

"oh and to think that this is but the beginning. there's no hope in trying to escape. you're already dead." what did he mean by that. he walked over to the table and randomly chose another "toy" as he called it. he picked up a hacksaw.

"oh my favorite." he said looking at it. he brought it close to his face and looked at it. "oh the memories." he said. that lead me to believe that this isn't the first time this has happened. he walked over to the mare and placed it on her leg. he looked up at me waiting for me to tell him to stop. i did.

"no not her." i said with my head hanging low.

"another good choice." he said. walked over and placed the saw on the base of my wing which was chained to the rack. i clenched my teeth and he started sawing. i yelled out in pain every time he sawed back and forth. he made it most of the way through. he cut clean through the bone and pulled the rest clean off. i yelled in pain. i could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

"can't have you bleeding out on us now can we." he said. he walked over to a fire lit across the room and levitated a hatchet by him. he walked over and placed the burning hatchet on my would. it stung like nothing i've felt before. i yelled out in pain as he soldered my wound closed.

he put the hatchet back and continued his business. he cut of my other wind and soldered it closed as well. i was in a lot of pain right now and i was going to kill him. there was too much light in this room for me to use my shadows but i had a way out of this. i just need time.

he walked back over to his table of contents and randomly chose another device. he picked up a box of nails and a hammer. this was going to suck. we walked over to me.

"i bet you'll take the hit for this one too." he said.

"yes." i said softly. he brought one of the nails to my shoulder and lined the hammer up with the head. he pounded the nail and it went halfway into my shoulder. i screamed in pain and he hit it again. it went all the way in and a trickle of blood flowed down my arm. eventually he nailed my entire right arm to the rack.

i looked at him with anger in my eyes. he started laughing. now was my chance. i looked at him until he looked at me. he stopped laughing suddenly and looked at me.

"what are you trying to pull. there's too much light for your shadows to do anything." he said. i continued to stare at him. my eyes turned black and i could stared him down. e looked at me and he froze it was working now to finish this.

"walk over to the fire and put it out." he stood still. then he laughed. i was shocked.

"thats not going to work on me fool." he said laughing. i was crushed this was it. i'm not getting out of this. i put my head down and tears started rolling from my eyes. "aww is the big bad hero going to cry now." he started laughing again.

i was about to tell him to just end it all. but i got a huge pain in my chest. i thrashed about and i felt something pushing from the inside of my chest. i yelled in pain and grit my teeth.

"what are you doing now." he asked. i continued to yell in pain. i looked down and saw my chest starting to split open. my eyes shrunk and i yelled in pain again. a few shadows and tentacles sprouted from the darkness and slowly crawled up my body.

the mare on the gurney across the room started screaming again. i watched as a hand pushed its way out of my chest and used it to pull itself out. slowly and painfully a figure emerged from my chest. it was a black skeletal looking figure with sharp teeth.

i covered the room in darkness and put out the fire. i was scared and slightly relieved at the same time. the blue pony backed up into the wall. the creature protruding from my chest laughed an evil demonic laugh.

"you think that becaussse you sssuround yourssself in light, that you are sssafe... there isss darknesss in all of usss... and i am the one that feasssts on that darknesss... i will not let you dessstroy thisss body... it mussst sssurvive if i am to. and i look forward to your dessstruction." with that it crawled back into my body and the wound closed up. i looked around and there was darkness everywhere. i smiled and laughed. i used some tentacles to hold down the pony and broke the chains with some bladed tentacles.

i went to get down but i was stopped. my arm was still nailed to the rack. i pulled my arm off and the nails just ripped through my body instead of out of the wood. that really hurt but i didn't care. i started laughing an evil laugh. the unicorn levitated a machete to him and slashed me across the chest with it. i ignored it.

he chopped and slashed at me with the machete. i just started to laugh. i launched a tentacle out towards him and cut off his horn. he screamed in pain. i picked him up and brought two tentacles over to his stomach. i stabbed them into his stomach. he yelled again. i was tired of his screaming.

i brought a tentacle over to his mouth and hovered it for a while. he shut his mouth. i forced the tentacle past his lips and broke his teeth to make way. i pushed the tentacle all the way down his throat. i cut open his stomach some more and started pulling out his intestines. as they fell to the floor he screamed. i spread the tentacles apart and ripped him into pieces.

the chunks of his body fell to the floor and painted everything in blood. i walked over to carrot top and cut her bindings lose. she was afraid though.

"don't worry carrot top it's still me... i won't hurt you." i said. i loosed the gar around her mouth and took it off. she didn't say anything she just whimpered and curled up into a ball. i grabbed her and we both sunk into the shadows. i few seconds later we emerged outside of her house. i put her down and she stared at me.

she didn't say anything. she just wiped the tears from her eyes. and looked at me.

"you're safe now..." i said "go inside and get some rest." i started to sink back into the shadows and she walked inside. i was soon gone. i teleported back to rainbows house. "dash are you here." i waited no response.

i tried to fly out of her house but i remembered that guy tore off my wings. i concentrated heavily. i focused on my wings and the shadows started to grow them back. when they were fully grown back i flapped them a bit. good as new.

i was going to be pretty damn hungry in the morning though. i continued out of the house and flew around for a bit. i eventually found the spot where that mare was killed. there was no more corpse. there wasn't even a bloodstain anymore.

i looked around to find some kind of clue. there weren't any. i walked around for a bit. i eventually made my way to the middle of town. there was a stand and a coffin. there was a banner above the coffin that said "in loving memory". oh god no. please don't let it be who i think it is. i quickly ran over.

i opened up the coffin and almost had a heart attack. it couldn't be it's just not possible...it...it was me. i looked in the coffin and my body was laying there pale and stiff. that's not possible. i was most definitely alive. i concentrated on the body and it changed. it was the mare from the other night who was dead. her body stitched up and disguised as my own.

i looked to the sky and noticed it was getting lighter. it was soon morning. i heard footsteps and voices. i closed the coffin and jumped into the shadows. i'm not going to let this happen. the body in the coffin was not mine and i'm not going to let it be buried as mine.

i hid and saw everypony i knew walk over to the stand. the all gathered around and were all crying. they all wore black and had flowers with them. mayor mare walked up and stood at the podium. she turned wiped her eyes and started to speak.

"we are gathered here today... to honor the memory of this town's greatest hero... crimson blast. not only has he been a positive influence on this town but has saved it and its ponies on several occasions." she said. she stopped for a second to cry and wipe her tears. watching this made me sad. "i can say for sure that he is going to be missed"

twilight walked up and stood at the podium. she cried for a second and collected herself.

"crimson blast... was one of my best friends...i just...can't believe that he is gone now." she said. she walked away from the podium and stood by the coffin. next rarity came up.

"crimson... was the most kid...most generous...most thoughtful pony ever...i..i" she didn't even finish she started crying and twilight came over and comforted her. they both walked back to the coffin. next was pinkie pie then applejack...then fluttershy. finally rainbow dash walked over to the podium.

she was a bit beat up but she was alive. i was relieved at that. she cried for a second and collected herself. she cleared her throat and spoke.

"i was there that night... that night when a single pony with evil in his heart and eyes viciously slaughtered my friend...i tried to stop him... but he knocked me out. i'm lucky to be alive as it is." she said "when i woke up and saw the mangled body of my friend i knew it would haunt me forever."

i couldn't take any more of it. she walked away from the podium and over to the coffin. they all started to cry and it finally got to me. i clenched my teeth and prepared to come back from the dead.

"STOP" i yelled from the shadows. there was a collective gasp and silence from everypony. i walked out from the shadows and looked around. i took a second to look over the crowd of ponies "i'm not dead..." i said in a softer tone.

everypony looked up at me. i looked over at my friends the expression on their faces was indescribable. it was like all of their dreams were crushed but rekindled with a small light. i smiled at them

"but...but" said rainbow dash. she looked at me with happiness but worry in her eyes. i walked over to the coffin and flipped it open they all looked in and gasped.

"that is not my body...i don't know who's that is." i said looking at the disfigured body.

"but where were you... you've been gone for two days."

"its a long story..." i said. i looked over at the crowd one of the ponies started clapping. a few more joined him and then the crowd was in a full on cheer. i was ambushed by my friends and they started crying again on top of me. the mayor walked back up to the podium and spoke.

"it's a miracle folks... not even death can reach our own hero." my friends got off of me and then noticed my cuts and gashes. the stepped back and looked horrified. "so crimson tell us what really happened." said the mayor. i couldn't bare telling them the truth so i lied.

" well the fight continued for a while and i was eventually overpowered, blinded, and dragged away. when i woke up i was chained to the wall of somepony's basement. it took me a day to get free and destroy him. were the house was i have no idea... but he did pay." i said.

the crowd once again cheered and rejoiced. ponies wiped the tears from their faces and smiled. my friends smiled too. i walked over to them and they all hugged me. they let go and rainbow dash punched me.

"don't you ever scare me like that again." she said with tears in her eyes. she held onto me again and let my coat soak up the tears.

"it's going to take more than this to kill me." i said. "and next time i die make sure i'm really dead alright." they laughed a bit. rainbow cleared the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"alright." she said. after a while the crowd grew into a giant party and everypony celebrated. i'm not sure why but i guess i was important to them. although i was still in pain i celebrated with them anyway.

after the party was over everypony said goodby to me and went home until i was alone with my six friends. i walked away to the park and they followed me. i started to feel sick. i sat down under a tree and clutched my stomach.

"are you alright." twilight said sitting down in front of me. the others sat down too. rarity and rainbow dash sat down next to me.

"no." i said. "i might have lied about what happened."

"why would you do that." asked fluttershy.

"because you don't need to know."

"tell us what happened." said applejack.

"alright" i said. "right after rainbow was knocked out i was chained up and dragged away. i fell unconscious and woke up later chained to a wooden rack. the killer had put me there and tortured me for several hours. he cut off my cutie mark." i lifted up one of my wings and showed them the spot of tissue were my mark was. "he even cut off my wings." i said

"but you have your wings." said twilight. i flexed them out and showed them the scars and burns around the base of my wings.

"i grew them back" i said

"how did you ever escape."

"i don't know... and i can't tell you... i don't even know how to explain it."

"you can try" said fluttershy

"no i can't" i rebutted. " trust me some thing are better left alone."

"alright partner you've been through alot and we can respect that. right girls." said applejack to everypony else. they all shook their heads in agreement.

"well i'm glad you're alright" said rainbow dash. she gave me a peck on the cheek. i looked over at rarity who had turned away. this must be awkward for her.

"are you going to do anything about those cuts." said twilight. i had almost forgotten. the large gashed on my legs and across my chest were still wide open but not bleeding.

"well they aren't bleeding so they're fine." i said

"are you sure."

"yeah i'm sure." i said. i sat back and yawned. i got another pain and clutched my stomach again .

"looks like you need to get some rest sleepy head." said pinkie.

"pinkie pie." i said "that is probably the greatest idea i've heard all day."

"alright lets get going home our her here needs his sleep." said twilight standing up. the others stood up too and walked away. rarity gave me a peck on the cheek and left. only me and rainbow dash were left.

"you wanna crash at my house...it's closer."

"sure..." i said. we both flew over to dashed house and went to her bedroom. she had a huge cloud bed. she helped me into the bad and laid down next to me. se pulled the covers over us and i laid there. she waddled over to me and cuddled up against me. she rested against me and i rested my head above hers.

she smiled and slowly drifted to sleep. i closed my eyes and started to wander off into my own dreams. i woke up in a familiar white place again. oh no not this again. i looked behind me and noticed the black dark pony sitting down chained to the pillars of light. looked at me and kept and expressionless face.

"we need to talk." he said

"about what." i said.

"if you're going to ussse my powersss you might asss well ussse them right." he said "come clossser." he said. i felt compelled to move forward towards him. i walked forward and stopped in front of him. a few tentacles flew out from in front of him and wrapped around me. they bound me down and one thin bladed one held itself up to my forehead. i struggled to break free but it didn't work.

the thin tentacle shot forward and pierced my forehead. it didn't hurt. i could feel something. i could see myself doing different things in my mind. achieving different powers. and its like when i saw it i instantly remember doing that power. it was like i already knew these things.

the tentacle pulled itself from my head and the others pushed me onto my ass. i sat there and rubbed my head.

"there now you know everything i do."

"what."

"every sssingle technique and every power isss now in the palm of your handsss or hoovesss." i wanted to say something but he was right. when i thought about it i knew a lot more than i did before. not about my powers or how strong i was but about other things too. like the average wingspan of a grown male dragon is 6 feet. i don't know but i knew that like the back of my hand

i knew other things too like how to cook...everything. how to hunt, fish, flying patterns basic and advanced trivia. it was ridiculous. my head started pounding and i got a splitting headache. i started to kneel down with my hands clutched on my head and the world around me faded to darkness again. i woke up and i was in rainbow dashed bed again.

i looked around to make sure she wasn't freaking out about me being dead or something. i looked next to me and she was sleeping with her arms wrapped around mine. she was still asleep. i looked out through one of the windows and it was still dark outside. it was getting brighter though.

i laid back down and waited. after a few hours dash woke up and looked at me. she smiled and crawled closer to my face.

"sleep well." she said with a smile on her face. her eyes were half open and her hair was messy. i smiled back at her.

"yeah... i feel better now."

"good cause we need to practice if we're going to kick ass in the yound flyers competition."

"can't we take a break first."

"no" she said. i laughed a bit.

"alright. lets get some breakfast then hit the park for some intense training." i said. she nodded her head and we headed downstairs. we ate breakfast and headed out. we spent the rest of the day at the park working on our routine.

we picked up on the little thing like timing and position. we finally stopped however when the sun started to set. we both sat down in a tree and watched the sun go down. when the sun went down we went back to my house and went to sleep. it was a boring day. nothing really happened that was interesting. we cuddled together and fell asleep.

****it was only a few more days until the competition...i was so excited.

-Authors Note: alright this chapter was a bit gruesome. but you know shit happens. it's important though. maybe you'll figure it out later or maybe not that's up to you. so the next chapter is the young fliers competition. i have a few colorful surprises in store for that. i'm sure you'll like it. -End of Note-


	23. Chapter 23: Best Day Ever

"now...what have we learned." said rainbow dash floating down to fluttershy.

"lots of control." said fluttershy

"good."

"screaming and hollering."

"yes, and most importantly."

"pasion"

"right... now that you know the elements of a good cheer lets hear one." said rainbow dash. fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath and cheered.

"yay." she said quietly.

"ugh... you're going to cheer for me like that. louder."

"yay."

"louder."

"yay."

"LOUDER." rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs. fluttershy stepped back and took a deep breath.

"yay." she said softly. rainbow dash fell to the ground and i burst out laughing. i laughed so hard i could barely breath.

"c'mon dash lets work on the routine again. fluttershy you just... do what you do." i said. she smiled and closed her eyes.

"ugh alright" she said. we ran through the routine again. we weaved through the trees circled around the clouds until they spun and launched into the air. we flew straight up did and loop and launched back to the ground.

i small barrier of light started to form around us as we rocketed to the ground together. the barrier of light grew brighter and brighter i tried flapping harder but we stopped together before we could break the barrier.

"uh oh" rainbow said. we were suddenly launched across the sky. rainbow yelled in fear. i managed to grab her and pull her towards me. i pulled her close into my grasp and covered her with my wings as we flew aimlessly through the sky.

i managed to get a small glimpse of twilight's tree before we crashed through a window and into her house. i bounced around a bit and knocked over almost every book on her shelves. i opened my eyes and saw all of my friends lying around the strewn books. i opened my arms and wings and let rainbow dash get up. she smiled and gave me a little kiss. i smiled.

i went to stand up but i had such a crick in my back. i just laid there and watched everypony get up. the place was a mess there were books everywhere.

"what the hell crimson we just reshelved these books."

"oh my back." i said putting one hoof on my back and cracking it. "sorry" i got up and looked around.

"what were you two doing." asked applejack.

"we were practicing for the best young flyers competition today in cloudsdale" said rainbow.

"oh is that today."

"yeah." said rainbow. i saw fluttershy float over and stand on the windowsill.

"woohoo." she said. she looked around and seemed shocked. "did my cheering do that."

"yes fluttershy... yes it did. you're soft cheering threw every single book off of the shelves." i said with a lot of sass and sarcasm

"did i do something wrong." fluttershy said floating down with a sad look on her face.

"no fluttershy you didn't i just got a real bad crick in my neck and it's bothering me." i said rubbing my neck.

"i can fix that" said applejack. she walked over and kicked me in the neck.

"what the hell that...feels so much better thank you." i said rubbing my neck.

"i wish you guys could come to the competition with us. fluttershy is good support but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational." said rainbow.

"oh i'd love to see you do a sonic rainboom." said pinkie bursting out of a pile of books right next to me. gave me a heart attack. " it's like the most coolest awesomest thing ever. even though i've never actually seen one but how not cool could it not be."

"what's a sonic rainboom." asked twilight. pinkie was about to answer but i stopped her.

"here pinkie let me explain it to twilight in words she might understand better." i said putting my hand infront of her face. " sonic rainboom is when a pegasus fly's fast enough that he or she breaks the sound barrier and causes a sonic explosion at the same time their mane color mixes with the explosion."

"sounds interesting." she said.

"c'mon crimson we should go rest up before we leave...don't want to overwork ourselves."

"alright...bye ladies." i said flying out the window with dash. we flew over to the park and sat down under a tree for a while. after an hour or so we decided it was time to go. we flew over and got fluttershy then we headed off. we flew for about an hour the we finally made it to cloudsdale.

it was beautiful. an entire pegasus city made of clouds. there was a factory looking place just pumping out rainbows and clouds. it looked amazing. we made our descent onto the floor. we landed next to three ponies who seemed to know rainbow dash.

"well, well, well, what do we have here." one of them said. he was short with brown fur and blonde hair.

"if it isn't our old friend...rainbow Crash.". the other one said. he was a bit taller with blonde, orangish fur and brown hair.

"get kicked out of any flight schools lately." the other one said. they all laughed.

"i didn't get kicked out"

"face it rainbow CRASH flight school had too many rules and not enough nap times." the brown one said flying over to dash. i quickly flew over and stuck my face in his.

"i don't know who you are...but i'm warning you now...i will destroy you." i said. they all laughed.

"hey ask her about the sonic rainboom." said the orange one.

"thats just an old mare's tale." said the brown pegasus flying around me."you don't have the skills to pull that off."

"now wait just a minute." said fluttershy behind us. everypony looked over at her. "oh i'm sorry i'm trying to be more assertive, anyhow, she is going to do a sonic rainboom."

"no she's not because there's no such thing."

"then show up at the cloudaseum and see for yourself... if you're free." the three ponies just laughed.

"oh don't worry we'll be there."

"to see you CRASH." they all laughed again and flew away.

"did you see that i was so assertive." fluttershy said flying over.

"good job flutts." i said patting her on the head

"those guys are right... i'm never going to be able to do it"

"hey don't worry we got this babe... were going to show up fly around and kick everypony's ass. and when we do it i will help you find those three ponies and shove it in their faces as much as you want." she laughed and hugged me with one arm.

"thanks crimson"

"yeah and just because you guys failed the move a hundred thousand times during practice doesn't mean that you can't do it in a stadium filled with supercritical sports fan ponies."

"alright fluttershy that's not helping." i said. rainbow started freaking out and panting.

"oh i'm sorry."

"what am i going to do. everypony is going to see me fail...the wonderbolts are never going to let a loser like me join their team...celestia will probably banish me to the everfree forest, MY LIFE IS RUINED."

"woah woah woah... calm down." i said sitting next to her. "hey don't say that you're going to do fine. besides i'll be with you every step of the way." i said hugging her. i gave her a kiss and she calmed down.

"Raaare-" said fluttershy.

"rare... the sonic rainboom is way more than rare." said dash

"rarity." fluttershy said pointing behind us. i looked behind us and my heart almost stopped. i saw rarity... FLYING. she had beautiful butterfly wings that glowed in the sunlight. she simply floated there acting smug.

"rarity are you flying" dash asked.

"i most certainly am." she said with a smile."aren't my wings smashing. twilight made them for me and i just adore them." we all just sat there and stared wide eyed. "why so shocked. we couldn't leave our favorite flyers without a cheering section now couldn't we."

i looked over and saw something break through the clouds. it was some kind of giant purple sphere. it revealed itself to be a hot air balloon. twilight pinkie and applejack were all in the balloon.

"i can't believe it." said rainbow dash

"i can...i can believe anything" i said still staring.

"this is so cool you guys made it." said rainbow dash.

"yeah it is pretty sweet." i said

"we sure did." pinkie said jumping out of the balloon. oh shit.

"wait." rainbow said. but it was too late she was already standing on the clouds. wait a minute.

"how are you doing that." i asked.

"well the spell i used to give rarity wings was too hard so i found an easier one that just lets us walk on clouds."

"very impressive." i said

"thank you crimson."

"so you guys are gonna come see me and crimson compete."

"we sure are." said applejack.

"well we still have time before the competition starts. here i'll show you guys around." said rainbow. for the rest of the day she brought us around cloudsdale. she even brought us to the rainbow factory. it was beautiful. pinkie walked over to one of the vats of rainbow juice and dipped her hoof in.

she took a lick from her hoof and freaked out. flames shot from her mouth and steam shot from her ears. her face turned every color of the rainbow. it was pretty funny.

"yeah rainbows aren't known for their taste." said rainbow dash. i walked over to the vat and dipped my hoof in. i gave it a lick. it tasted familiar. like... like cajun spice. it was pretty good.

"mmm not bad... tastes spicy." i said licking the rest off of my hoof. the others just watched as i enjoyed myself. when i finally noticed everypony was staring i stopped. "what." i asked. they all just laughed and we continued the tour.

the rest of the tour was boring until the point that rarity accidentally flew in front of the sun and the light filtering through her wings shone across the entire factory. one of the ponies said she should join the best young flyers competition. rainbow started to freak out and i comforted her.

eventually it was time for the competition. me and dash were scheduled to go last. rarity was before us. she spent her entire time in the changing room doing...whatever. rainbow was seriously freaking out though. she went over into the corner and curled into a ball. i walked over and sat down next to her.

a few ponies had already gone and we were up soon. i sat there with rainbow and tried to calm her down. then a mare came over.

"alright since there isn't enough time you have to compete along with contestant 23." she said. so that meant we were going to perform with rarity. great. when it was our turn rarity come out from the changing room. she was wearing about 5 pounds of makeup and the most...interesting...dress that i have ever seen. she looked ridiculous

we took a deep breath and flew out. there were tons of ponies in the crowd. rarity started her routine and changed the music we were going to use. that didn't bother me too much. i put my hoof around rainbow dash and smiled. we started.

we flew forwards and weaved in and out of the pillars of cloud. rainbow bumped into one and lost speed. i did a 360 tail spin and let her catch up. next we flew up to the clouds. we spun the first one together and then i took the left one she took the right. then we met up at the fourth one. we spun that one too fast and it went flying into the stands. and just to our luck it went right for the princess. luckily she ducked and it missed her.

i took her hoof and we flew up into the air together. we flew higher and higher than ever before. i swear we were so high the fall would actually kill me.

i heard screaming from under us. it was rarity she was falling with three other ponies. i poked rainbow and showed her. we both dived down towards them. we zoomed past the crowd and we reached incredible speeds. soon we started to catch up and the white barrier started forming around us. as we got closer and closer to rarity it got brighter and brighter. it got hard to fly.

i wasn't going to fail this time. i concentrated and gathered a bit of darkness around my wings and started trailing shadow smoke. i flapped my wings as fast as i possibly could but we needed to hurry the ground was growing nearer. the barrier flashed every color of the rainbow and then it happened.

the barrier broke and we reached unimaginable speeds. i looked behind us. there was a huge rainbow explosion as that was trailed by shadowy smoke. it was the greatest thing i've ever seen. i focused my attention back on rarity. we eventually caught up to them. i grabbed rarity and one of the wonderbolts and rainbow grabbed the other two. we pulled up just before we hit the ground and rocketed through the sky trailing a mix of rainbow and shadows. it was beautiful.

we flew beyond clouds dale and spread a huge rainbow overhead. we came back around and flew up through the hole in the arena. i flew over to the air balloon and placed rarity inside of it so she wouldn't fall through the clouds again. i looked over to rainbow who dropped off the other two ponies and the tackled me to the ground and hugged me. the entire crowd cheered and clapped.

"WE did it crimson we actually did it... that was so awesome." she said hugging me tight. i laughed and we both got up.

"you sure did guys... thank you for saving me." said rarity from the basket. she smiled and we smiled back

"best day ever." said rainbow dash. after a bit we got everypony down to us and we were congratulated by all of our friends while we awaited the judges opinion. we all gathered around rarity who was still in the basket.

"i want to apologize to everypony for how i acted." said rarity. "and especially you two." she said pointing at us. "i acted selfish and i should have been there to cheer you two on."

"thats alright rarity." i said.

"yeah it's fine we forgive you." said rainbow putting a hoof around me. "i just wish i could have met the wonderbolts while they were awake." she said putting her head down. i looked behind us and saw the wonderbolts. one of them taped rainbow on the back. she turned around and gasped.

"oh my gosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh"

"so you're the two ponies that saved our lives." the orange maned mare said. "we really wanted to meet you two and say thanks."

"ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh." she continued to say. i looked over and saw the princess flying over with a few guards next to her. she landed and everypony turned their attention to her.

"princess." twilight said. everypony bowed. even i did.

"hello twilight sparkle" she said walking over "and hello to your friends too, ah and hello also to you too crimson."

"princess celestia i'm sorry i ruined the competition. rainbow dash here and here and crimson blast really are the best flyers in all of equestria." she said with guild in her eyes.

"i know were is my dear. that's why for their incredible acts of bravery and their spectacular sonic rainboom i'm presenting the grand prize for best young flyer to the team of rainbow dash and crimson blast." she walked over and put a crown on rainbows head it was gilded with wings and a lightning bolt. she looked over to me and smiled.

"ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh." dash kept saying. all of her friends picked her up and carried her off. i flew over and flew by her as the crowd carried her away. they paraded her around and dropped her off. "this really is the best day ever."

"uh hey rainbow crash...uh i mean dash." said one of the three jerk ponies a saw earlier today. let the rubbing it in begin. "that was uh pretty cool." he said.

"i'm sorry what was cool." i said walking over.

"the sonic rainboom." he said.

"but i thought that didn't exist."

"well...it...i guess it does."

"thats all i needed to hear... dash any words." i said looking at her. she smiled and laughed.

"not right now." she said.

"do you want to hang out today maybe show us how you did that incredible trick." one of them said.

"sorry boys." she said grabbing my arm and pulling me into the air with her. we both flew up to the wonderbolts and floated away. "i've got plans." she said. we all flew away into the sunset then we flew over to their private training track.

we spent the entire day doing tricks and racing. it was fun, i even managed to beat soarin in a race. spitfire is never going to let him live that down. eventually our fun had to come to an end and the night started to set in. the wonderbolts had to retire early today because they had a big race tomorrow. so me and dash made our way home. we laughed and laughed all the way home as we started remembering the whole day.

we eventually got to dashes house and we headed inside. i was tired and my wings were aching. i don't think i've ever used my wings so much in one day. i was starving too. i walked into the kitchen and helped myself to a cupcake.

"you were right dash... this was the best day ever." i said finishing the cupcake.

"i know how it can get better." she said leaning on the door frame of the kitchen door. she bit her lip and slowly walked over to me. i think i knew where this was going. he came up to me and put her hooves on my shoulders and blushed. she pushed me backward and i fell on my back and she landed on top of me. i blushed too.

she leaned in and kissed me on the mouth. she stuck her tongue in my mouth and started prodding it around. i did the same. i rolled her over and i was on top now. i picked her up with my shadows and carried her over to the couch still kissing her. i let go of her and she fell to the couch. she turned around and stuck her plot into the air. she brushed her tail away and gave me a nice view of her nether regions.

i was already hard as a rock. i brought my member over to her cyan colored pussy and pressed against it.

"nngh..." she moaned "no not there." she said. i lifted up and aligned my member up to her plot hole and pushed against it. it was pretty tight and took a bit to just get the head in. i don't think i've ever done anal before. i slowly pushed my way into her and as i went deeper her face grew a brighter shade of red.

she moaned and groaned a bit as i started to pump in and out of her. damn it was tight. it felt so good i almost came right there but i resisted the urge. i continued to thrust and buck my hips and she still moaned.

"oh yes harder...harder." she said with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "don't stop." she said. i wasn't going to. i brought my hoof down to her dripping pussy and started rubbing it up and down her lower lips. she gasped at the feeling and started to moan again.

i rubbed her harder and faster. i could feel pressure building up in my groin. i was going to burst. i felt like i was burning up. i was sweating and breathing heavily. i suddenly got the most ridiculous idea. i'm not sure if rainbow would be up for it but i didn't take that into consideration. every part of me was screaming at me to do this except my gut. i had a bad feeling about this.

i slowly crept a few shadows over and around rainbow dash. i quickly grabbed her and twisted her around so that she was facing me. i kept pumping in and out of her ass as i lifted her up off the couch and pressed her against me. i slowly brought a few tentacles over to her private parts and her mouth.

"do it." she said. i was a bit surprised by the answer but i obliged. i slowly slipped one of the tentacles into her vagina and down her throat. i started pumping slowly but i picked up the pace. after a minute i was viciously thrusting my appendages through her body. she climaxed at least three times before i got close. this was the greatest feeling i've ever had.

could feel everything that my tentacles could feel and it was unreal. i panted harder and harder and thrust my tentacles and my cock in and out of her as fast as i could. she just laid there and moaned. she came again and that pushed me over the edge. i roared and released my torrent of cum up her ass. i pushed all the way in and emptied my balls into her colon. i pulled out the tentacle in her vagina and it squirted her stomach with cum too.

i saw her throat bulge and a wave of cum flow from her mouth and onto the floor. she tried her best to swallow but there must have been too much. i removed my tentacle from the mouth and she gasped for air. she took a second to breath and smiled. my penis grew flaccid and fell from her plot hole. and a stream of jizz flew out after it.

i breathed heavily and smiled. i gently lowered her to the ground and she collapsed with her legs spread wide open, cum stained on her body, and a smile lazily pasted on her face. she seemed to regret nothing. i know i don't, that was fucking amazing. the shadowy tentacles dissipated and my member sheathed itself. i collapsed next to her on my stomach.

i looked at her and she at me. she smiled at me. she had a bit of cum still in her mouth. i laughed a bit and she did too.

"that was amazing." she said flopping over on her side next to me.

"i know..." i said taking breaths in between every few words "i've never... done that...before." she closed her eyes and brought her face close to mine. i flipped over on my back and we laid there on her cloud floor for some time. eventually we both drifted off to sleep.

****Best day ever.


	24. Chapter 24: The Day After

i woke up the next morning and looked around. it was pretty bright in here. there was a knock on the door and my heart stopped. i suddenly remembered everything from last night. i looked over to dash quickly who was laying spread eagle and stained with cum. i tried to stumble on my feet but just fell down.

i tried to say something but i couldn't. i tried to shout out but nothing came out of my mouth. the door swung open and my heart froze. all of my friends walked in, they noticed the scene and they all blushed. i stared in horror with my mouth agape. the others stared at me too. it felt like forever before they rushed out of the doorway.

i laid back down when a disturbing thought came to my head. what were they doing here and how come they could stand on clouds again. did twilight give them that spell again. i don't even know.

i got up. that was one of the most awkward moments of my life. i looked over at dash who was still fast asleep. how did she sleep through that. i'm pretty sure at one point i had stepped on her trying to get up. i nudged her a bit and she woke up.

"huh what happened." she said getting up.

"our friends are here." i said

"oh crap i need to shower"

"they already came in." i said back to her. it took her a minute to process the information. after she finished looking over the way she was lying down with her legs spread open. and the fact she was still coated with dry cum it finally clicked.

"ohh, fuck." she said. and quite loudly as well.

"alright hold on i'll fix it." i said. i walked over to the door and opened it a little bit. "if you guys could come back in like an hour that would be great thanks bye." i said and closed the door. i put my back to the door and looked at rainbow dash.

"well is it fixed." she said in a worried voice.

"No." i said. "but i did manage to put off having to face our friends for about an hour. so we should shower up and run away."

"i'm not gonna run from my friends." she said in a stubborn voice.

"alright lets just wash up then." i said.

"yeah good idea." she said. we headed upstairs and showered together. i helped her scrub down and get clean and she washed my hair. we got out and dried off then got some food. when we finished eating we went to the door and opened it. to my surprise my friends were still there.

"what are you guys still doing here." i said "i told you to come back in like an hour."

"we've only been here like ten minutes." said pinkie.

"so i take it y'all slept well." said applejack. me and rainbow both blushed.

"ugh...ugh...ugh." i said frozen in fear.

"yes we did." rainbow said stepping in front of me "we had a wonderful time." she flicked her tail in my face, it made me sweat. "and i hope that maybe we could have fun another time." she said with a smile circling around me. she stopped by my side and smiled smugly.

i broke out of my shocked paralysis and put a hoof around rainbow dash. i too smiled smugly. the rest of them blushed.

"well we came over to celebrate your victory a bit but i guess you two want to be alone." said twilight. they hopped into their balloon and floated away. rainbow flicked her tail in my face and bit her lip again.

"so big boy... what do you want to do now that we're alone."

"i have a few idea's." i said. she walked me inside but i stopped her.

"wait." i said.

"what is it."

"apple bloom and her friends are in trouble." i used my sonic hearing to listen over ponyville there was laughter and a few screams. not screams of pain but excitement.

"how can you tell." she said

"because there having too much fun. c'mon lets go make sure they don't kill themselves." i said flying off. rainbow followed me. i flew around and she caught up with me.

"Hey i'm going to go home and clean up cuz i just realized i've still... well you know." i looked at her hair it was covered in... well you know

"alright i'll go... you go home." i said. she banked to the left and turned around back home. i looked around the ground until i saw rarity with the three fillies. i swooped down and landed.

"she just got back from dashes house and you're already bothering your sister sweetie belle." i said landing.

" *gasp* oh oh, crimson can watch us." said sweetie belle jumping around and looking at her sister.

"i can do what now." i said as the three little fillies danced around my legs.

"the girls wanted to sleep over at my house and do whatever it is they do. but i've got a lot of work that needs to be done and i told them no. and now i guess they want to stay over at your place apparently."

"yeah they can stay over." i said. the three fillies cheered and hugged my legs and then ran off.

"are you sure you can do this." asked rarity.

"sure. i had a kid of my own back on my world."

"alright then."she said. "but if you need any help just call me alright."

"don't worry rarity it'll be fine." i said. she smiled and said goodbye. i walked over to see the little fillies playing near a well. i already didn't like it. i watched as apple bloom almost fell in. but i caught her with a shadow and picked her up. i put her down and she ran over to me. her friends followed her.

"thanks blast." she said.

"alright my little ponies. i'm letting you three stay in my house but first i want to get something straight." i said. i looked at them and the mood turned from fun to serious. "this isn't going to be a constant battle to keep you three safe is it." i asked.

"we're going to be at your house the whole time." said scootaloo.

"yeah what could go wrong."

" i keep asking myself that same question and i think life just takes it as a challenge." i said to the three fillies. " now c'mon i have to go talk to rainbow dash first." the three fillies followed me and we walked around town to where rainbows house was floating over.

"what are we doing here." asked scootaloo.

"i need to talk to rainbow dash for a minute alright... you three stay here and don't get in trouble." i said. i knew that wasn't going to happen, but its nice to think that it could. i spread my wings and flew straight up to the door. i knocked and rainbow came out with wet hair.

"so how are the fillies." she asked.

"well that's the thing... stuff happened and now they're going to be staying at my house tonight because rarity can't watch them."

"what are they going to do at your house." asked dash.

"i don't know probably go on one of their adventures or something. but i could use your help if you're interested... might be fun." i said trying to get her to help me. to be honest those three fillies were more than just a handful even for me.

"hmm. sounds like fun." she said.

"well we're going to have our work cut out for us." i said. "i know how much trouble those fillies can get in and its almost unreal."

"i'm sure it will be fine... besides i've always wanted to really see you're house." she said blushing. " it'll be fun."

"alright then we should get going." we both flew back down and landed on the ground. i looked around and the fillies were gone.

"god dammit." i said. " i was gone... a minute." i said trotting around looking for the fillies.

"lose something." said rainbow sarcastically.

"three somethings to be exact." i said looking everywhere. then my hearing picked up something. i prodded my head up and looked around like a deer. i walked over to a well and looked down.

"girls are you down there."

" crimson help." i heard one of the voices say. "we fell down here."

"wait you ALL fell down into the well... How the HELL did you do that." i said.

"i don't know are you alright." i asked.

"yeah me and sweetie belle are fine but somethings wrong with scootaloo. please help she's not waking up." oh fuck i thought. i focused and my eyes turned black .i pulled the three fillies out with a few shadows. i let them all down and rushed over to scootaloo.

i put my hoof to her chest. she wasn't breathing but she was still alive. i looked at her and she had broken her neck on the fall.

"no...NO." i said. i went full on shadow form and picked her up. i flew so fast to my house it was almost like i teleported. i broke open the door and placed her on the couch. i rushed into my pantry and threw a few bottles to the side and found the one i was looking for.

it was a potion they call "phoenix tears." this potion alone was worth half of my house and i had made like three of them. the other potions i tossed aside weren't important mostly failed experiments or distilled and unfinished products.

i flew to scootaloo just as rainbow entered the room with the two other fillies. i opened her mouth and poured a bit of the potion down her throat. she wasn't drinking it. her neck was too mangled.

"DAMN IT... DON'T DO THIS TO ME." i yelled and slammed my coffee table. i brought a shadow over to me it was a thin and pointy shadow. there was only one way this was going to work. i had to perform a spinal tap on scootaloo. i put my ear to her chest and she was still alive but barely.

i flipped her over and dipped the shadowy needle into the potion. i pulled it out and it gleamed bright blue. i aligned the needle to the upper base of her spine and slowly pushed it in.

"what's wrong with her." apple bloom said with tears in her eyes. sweetie was crying too "is she going to be alright." she asked again. i didn't answer. i slowly kept pushing the needle in until i felt the marrow of her bone. i let the potion get soaked up in her bloodstream and removed the needle. i took a cloth and put it up against the small hole.

i flipped her over again. that should have fixed her enough that she can drink now. i poured a bit more of the potion into her mouth and it flowed down her throat. i sighed in relief. i put my ear up to her chest and felt her heartbeat get progressively stronger. but she still wasn't breathing.

i put my hooves to her chest and performed CPR. i pushed a couple times and brought my lips around hers trying to force the breath back into her. i tried again and again until it worked and she sprung to life. she coughed and choked a bit but she was fine. i picked her up and hugged her tight.

"oh thank god you're alright." i said hugging her. i held her so tight i thought i was going to crush her so i put her down. the fillies have gotten into trouble before but they never really ever got this hurt. while scootaloo recovered her friends jumped around me and hugged me. they thanked me hundreds of times for saving her.

i picked up scootaloo and brought her up to the guest room. i put her on the bed and tucked her in.

"girls why don't you stay here with scoots and make her feel better." said rainbow dash walking behind me." i need to talk to crimson for a moment.

"okay" they said and she closed the door. she looked at me and i looked at her.

"how can you do that." she said. she sounded like i did something wrong. i thought of anything i might have done wrong but i couldn't.

"do what." i said backing up.

"how could you be the greatest pony i know." she said leaning in and then kissing me. i fell back and hit the floor. she opened her eyes and pulled away. she smiled. "i can't believe you saved that little fillies life so fast. you should be a doctor or something." she said.

"nah being a doctor would be boring. not enough action." i said smiling.

"do you really think you don't get enough action in your life." said rainbow rolling off of me and onto the floor. i laughed because it was true.

"yeah i'm sure, besides i like it. keeps my life interesting and keeps me from falling apart from boredom." i sighed and memories of a fight i had in school had started to flow into my mind. "you know when i was a kid i was always so bored all the time."

"why is the." rainbow said rolling on her side and holding me.

"well school was boring, i didn't have any friends, and everybody picked on me. and then one day i snapped and got in a fight...nobody ever messed with me again"

"sounds awesome." she said. i laughed.

"you know i guess it is." i laughed some more and she did too. we laughed for a bit and then we settle down. "c'mon we should check on the girls" i said getting up. i got up and made my way to the door.

i opened the door and saw the sweetie belle and applebloom standing over their friend scootaloo pretending to be doctors. it was cute. i walked over and they all looked at me and smiled.

"well scootaloo you recovered quickly." i said seeing as she was smiling and laughing with her friends. "good to see i can make a good potion." i said.

"oh cool you make potions." she said perking up.

"in my spare time yes...i do."

"so cool, do you have like a lab or something you make the potions."

"no, i just make em in my kitchen." i said. "and that scene you girls caused earlier has left me without any aventine and mill-buds." i said. those unfinished potions contained all of those ingredients that i had completely use up.

"we're sorry." they all said hanging their heads.

"it's alright girls. now there's still some light left so why don't you three come with me. i usually go to the bog near fluttershy's house and get some there. she doesn't mind."

"yeah cutie mark crusaders potion makers." they all said jumping into the air giving each other high fives. i laughed a bit because it was cute.

"c'mon girls."

"i'll go too." said dash. "i can talk to fluttershy while you guys are busy." sounded fair. i grabbed my things and we all headed out. we went out the back door because it was easier to cut through the woods. there was already a clear cut path from the last time i was here.

we walked through the woods and eventually broke through to the swamp. you could see fluttershy's house over the hills. i walked around and looked for the ingredients. i eventually came across some purple looking leaves. that was aventine.

"c'mere girls." i said. the girls walked over and looked at the plan i was holding. "this is aventine, i need you girls to get me a few of the leaves from this plant alright."

"sure thing." said applebloom." they started picking the leaves and putting them in a pot they brought with them. i continued to look around until i found a few skinny and long mushrooms growing on the root of a tree. that was mill-bud.

"alright girls over here now." i said and the girls walked over with a half full pot of aventine. that was more than enough. "alright next. see these mushrooms."

"yes." they answered

"this is mill-bud."

"but i thought mill bud was going to be some kind of flower, not stinky old mushrooms." said sweetie belle.

"ah but that's the beauty of it all." i said. i grabbed one of the mushrooms. i held it up and the top of the mushroom burst open into beautiful red and purple flower. "now don't go picking these because only one is required. the petals are very potent for healing magic. but the rest can be used to make poison."i said

i suddenly realised that i did have bottle of poison in my house. most of them were on purpose some by accident. and i remembered that either one most of them would also drop these fillies dead before it even hits their stomachs.

"girls you have to promise me not to got playing with the potions in my house." i said in a serious tone.

"alright." they said. we continued picking ingredients in the swamp. dash flew over to fluttershy's house and went to chat with her. after a while i saw a familiar figure in the distance. it was twilight she walked over and said hello.

"hey twi what are you doing here."

"oh just going to zecora's for my favorite tea."

"alright... wait... who's zecora."

" oh she's a friend of mine... i don't think you've met her."

"mmm no don't think i have."

"oh that's right you were at canterlot when she came around... you should come meet her you two would get along quite well. i mean you both like making potions."

"alright maybe the girls can come with me." i said.

"the girls?" she said raising an eyebrow. i looked behind me and saw that the three fillies were gone...

"son of a BITCH." i yelled.

"loose something."

"second time i've been asked that today." i said turning over a few rocks and logs. "and yes i have, the somethings to be correct."

"let me guess the cutie mark crusaders."

"i'm letting them stay over at my house tonight. dash is helping me but she went over to see fluttershy." i said still looking around. "help me find them please." i said looking at twilight.

"alright lets see. if i were three fillies were would i be." she said looking around. i went to turn over another log when i saw a little trail of hoofprints trailing through the mud.

"i think i might know." i said walking along the trail. the trail continued until the land thickened and then i was following a trail of mud. the trail went into fluttershy's chicken coop and then left into the forest. "oh that's not good." i said when i saw the trail end and the darkness of the everfree forest.

i ran in and started calling the girls. twilight chased after me and we both ran through the forest. i kept running and then i tripped on something. i looked back and it was a stone statue of a squirrel... weird.

"girls...girls where are you." i said getting up and running around. i heard screaming and the three girls ran out of a bush in front of me and huddled around me. "oh thank goodness you're all safe." i said.

"there-theres a monster in there." said sweetie belle shrinking back in fear. i heard a rustling in the bushes and got ready. i expected to fight but when i saw the monsters head poke out of the bush i laughed. it was a chicken. i kept laughing. i looked over again and stopped laughing as the head of the chicken rose above the shrub and revealed its body.

it was a cockatrice. it had the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. i knew what that thing did and i shielded the kids and turned away. i looked back to twilight who was already stone. the girls freaked out and ran away.

"no girls come back it's not safe." i said but they just ran behind a tree and looked at me. "don't look into its eyes." i said turning away from the monster. i kept my eyes shielded and it shrieked at me. i saw past me and the girls were shrieking again. the monster started slithering towards them.

"oh hell no." i said jumping on it. not the best idea. i got up and the creature caught my eyes. i couldn't look away. i could feel my left leg stiffen up and freeze. it went completely numb and soon the same feeling started traveling up my thighs and to my chest. i was sure that i was doomed. i could feel the feeling climb up to my chest.

i realized that if i didn't fight this then it was going to go for the girls next. i looked to the girls and yelled at them to run.

"RUN AWAY..." i said "GET TO FLUTTERSHY'S HOUSE...NOW." i yelled and they ran away. the serpent slithered after them and i was half frozen that wasn't going to stop me. i lashed a shadow from the darkness and grabbed the beast. i tossed it back over to me and threw it around.

the creature wasn't looking at me but i was still slowly turning into stone. i felt it creep up to the base of my neck. i threw the creature around some more and it stared at me and i was done. the numbness reached past my neck and too my face. i yelled one more time at the top of my lungs and then i was encased in stone.

i was completely helpless right now. i just had to hope that my friends would get me out of this. everything was dark and cold. but before i knew it there was a light and the light soon spread and i started to regain feeling in my body. i opened my eyes and saw i was in the forest. i saw twilight lying on the ground next to me and the three fillies looming over me with big smiles on their faces. i looked over and saw rainbow dash and fluttershy were looking over me and smiling as well.

i slowly got up and the three fillies hugged my legs. then rainbow leaned in and hugged me too. i couldn't feel my legs worth shit and i almost collapsed.

"it was amazing, fluttershy out-stared the cockatrice and it ran away... it was so awesome." said scootaloo jumping around.

"thanks fluttershy."

"oh you know it was nothing." she said shyly.

"c'mon we've had a big day." said rainbow to me and the three little fillies. "i think it's time to go to bed."

"alright." said the three fillies. they seemed disappointed. maybe i could end their day with a bang of some kind... ah i know."

"c'mere" i said gesturing the fillies and rainbow over to the shadow i was standing under. "i know an even faster way to my house." they all walked over to my shadow as twilight struggled to get up. "hey what's wrong with twilight."

"oh well being encased in stone isn't a pleasant thing." said fluttershy. "she needs time to recover unlike you because you're so strong."

"you sure she'll be alright." i asked

"i'm fine." she said sticking her arm up and waving it before it fell back down. "i'm just physically exhausted."

"i'll take care of her." said fluttershy.

"alright i'll see you girls tomorrow." i said. "ready girls." i said looking at the three fillies. they smiled and i took that as a yes. i used my powers to make us sink into the ground until there was total darkness. and after a second we rose in my kitchen. i saw the amazement on the three fillies faces.

"woah... so cool." scootaloo said looking around.

"that was fun." said sweetie belle.

"ah'm tired." said applebloom. i walked the three fillies to the guest room. i helped them into bed and tucked them in. i said goodnight as k blew out the candle and walked out of the room. i closed the door behind me.

i walked upstairs and into my room. i saw rainbow dash laying in my bed. i was about to join her when i got a look at myself in the mirror. i was a mess.

"i think i'm going to take a shower." i said walking into the bathroom through the door in my room. i walked in and stepped in the shower. i started it up and got under the water. i soaked my hair and washed myself. i stayed in there for a little bit. i started to think about a few things. nothing big.

i was about to finish up when the door opened up and somepony stepped inside. i stayed quiet and so did they. they walked over and opened up the curtains a little. i saw as a cyan blue hoof stepped into the tub followed by magenta eyes and a rainbow mane.

dash walked over to me and blushed as the warm water hit her face. i backed up and blushed too. we both sat down in the shower together and looked at each other. it was surprisingly roomy. she leaned in and kissed me. i tried to lean back but i slid on the wet tub floor and slid onto my back. she fell on top of me and laughed.

"i was feeling a bit dirty too so i decided to join you in the shower." she said blushing.

"do you want me to wash you." i asked blushing too. she looked back at me seductively and bit smiled.

"that would be awesome." she said."maybe i can use some of your... special shampoo." she asked.

"go right ahead." i said. she turned herself around and gave me a good view of her pussy. i'm not sure if it was the water or if she was already soaking wet. she rubbed her hoof on my penis until it grew stiff and hard.

i put my hoof on her lower lips and started to rub. she shivered and licked the base of my shaft all the way to the tip. she put her lips around it and started licking. she stopped and started to push my cock down her throat. i brought my mouth to her vagina and gave it a little lick. i started lapping away and she started leaking juices. she tasted sweet and succulent.

i continued to greedily lick away at her pussy and started pushing my snout in further. she kept sucking harder and faster as i pushed my face into her pussy. we stayed at a constant pace for a while. she started to moan and grind her hips against my face. i got a bit more excited too and started bucking my hips as well.

she moaned loudly through my cock and a torrent of jizz splashed me in the face. i licked it up and continued pleasuring her. i was getting close myself. dash kept sucking harder and harder and went deeper too. it felt great. i put my hooves on her head and moved her head up and down myself. i blew my load into her mouth and she pulled her head off my cock.

the rest of my load went into her face and she tried to lick up any that she could. at the same time she let go another load right into my face again and i removed my snout from her pussy. i felt a sudden urge to piss now. i crossed my legs and she smiled. she pulled my dick back up and started licking the tip.

i tried to make her stop but it was too late i let go right in her mouth. to my surprise she started to swallow as much as she could. she started to go on me as well. i wasn't sure about this kind of stuff but i was in ecstasy and was willing to try anything.

i brought my mouth over her pussy and let her piss fill up my mouth. the piss was acrid and bitter but it strangely turned me on. i finished pissing and she continued to empty her bladder. i guess she really had to go. i didn't actually swallow any of it i just let it pour out of my mouth. she finally stopped and turned around. i gulped down any piss still in my mouth and shivered.

she kissed me and stuck her tongue deep in my mouth. i did the same. i don't know why i still tasted piss. she let go and stood up. she blushed and started drinking the shower water. i stood up too and did the same. it helped get the taste of piss out of my mouth.

i turned off the shower and dried off me and dash. we both climbed into bed and i blew out the candles. we both smiled at each other and slowly drifted to sleep as we cuddled. i eventually fell asleep and started to dream.

the girls weren't that bad today.

****

- Authors Note: i'm going to tell you all this right now. there is no way in hell i can write for zecora... NO WAY IN HELL... got it...good. i may get some help for it but there is no way i can do it by myself. and i do have a bit of a twist planned for the next chapter. oh and notice how i didn't make a "taste the rainbow joke" during the sex scene. why you ask... because its not funny. bye. - End of Note-


	25. Chapter 25: Family Values

i slowly opened my eyes and let the bright light wake me up. i finally opened my eyes fully and saw rainbow sleeping calmly on the bed. she was cute when she was asleep. i looked over at the clock and it was only six. i got out of bed and walked downstairs. i quietly snuck over to the guest room and checked on the girls.

i peeked in and checked real quick. they were all snuggled up under the blankets. they were pretty cute too. i closed the door and walked into the kitchen. i made pancakes for all of us. i thought it would be nice to wake them up the same way my mother did on a lovely sunny morning...i grabbed a pot and a metal spoon and started banging.

"WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUMS." i yelled out. "COME GET YOUR FOOD." i heard a scream from upstairs and a thud on the floor. i also heard collectives shouts from the other room. i laughed so hard i couldn't breathe. i felt right at home. i heard footsteps around upstairs. well more like heavy thuds and stomps. rainbow came into the kitchen from the stairs.

"what the hell was that." she said. i was still laughing. "you almost gave me a heart attack." i walked over to her still chuckling and i put a hoof over her shoulder.

"i'm sorry dashy but i had to." i said bursting out into laughter again. "i'm sorry." i said just as the three fillies stumbled into the room.

"what's wrong with you. you scared us to death." said sweetie belle.

"not me." said applebloom. "mah sister gets me up like that every morning." she said sitting down at the table.

"at least you made us pancakes." said scootaloo taking a seat with sweetie belle.

"yeah at least." said rainbow walking past me. i was still giggling a bit.

"i remember when my mother used to wake me up like that every morning. you're just lucky i was in the kitchen and not the bedroom like she used to go with me and my brother."

"ouch that must have hurt." said scootaloo

"but she only did it when she made good food like pancakes or a danish or something. so whenever we got woken up like that we could always expect good food." i said.

"why did she do that." asked sweetie belle

"because she didn't want us to sleep in and waste food." i said sitting down and distributing pancakes and syrup. we dug in and when breakfast was over it was time for me to take the girls home. we left and rainbow headed for her house. i walked through town with the girls first stop was rarity's to drop off sweetie belle.

i walked over to the boutique and rang the bell. the door swung open and rarity answered the door. doesn't look like she had put her face on yet. she was a mess.

"oh back already... did the girls behave."

"yeah... sure." i said.

"oh dear what did they do." she said worryingly.

"don't worry about it rarity i'm fine the girls are fine everything is fine." i said. sweetie belle jumped past me and stood next to her sister after saying goodbye to me and her friends. i closed rarity's door and i made my way to sweet apple acres.

we got there and i knocked on the door. it swung open and applejack answered the door.

"ah there's mah little sister"

"she ain't been too much trouble now has she." applejack said as applebloom walked over to her after saying goodbye to scootaloo and me.

"no she was fine." i said

"alrighty then see ya'll later." said applejack and i closed the door. all that was left was to drop off scootaloo at her sisters house.

"so scoots who's your sister." i asked

"i- i don't have a sister." she said slumped over.

"well then where are your parents." i asked. she was quiet. "scootaloo." i said. still no answer. i saw a single tear fall from her face. "scootaloo are you alright." i said stopping and kneeling down to get on her level.

"i don't have parents." she said. "i live at the orphanage." i was shocked. i almost didn't believe it. i never knew that. she almost started crying and i picked her up and hugged her.

"how is that possible you're the most likeable filly i've ever seen" i said patting her on the back.

"i guess not to everypony else."she said crying softly over my shoulder.

"hey don't you say that alright. if no pony liked you then you wouldn't have such great friends like sweetie belle and applebloom... or me." i said patting her some more. she didn't say anything. i flew her to the orphanage and set her down inside. a mare sitting at a desk perked up and smiled

"hello scootaloo." she said. "did you have fun with your friends." she said.

"yeah" scootaloo said walking into another room with her head hanging down low.

i could easily tell she was suffering. i could feel it in her, i read her like a book. this place was a constant pit of emotional despair and sorrow. she didn't want to be here and she was always hoping somepony would adopt her. it broke my heart.

i walked over to the desk. i had a crazy thought in my head. probably the dumbest one yet. but she was hurt. so i started talking to the mare at the desk.

"how much is it to adopt a filly."

" oh you're looking to adopt. that's wonderful. i bet it's scootaloo isn't it."

"yeah but don't tell her until it's official alright... i want it to be a surprise."

"no problem sir." she said. she ducked behind the desk and pulled out some paperwork. "we just need you to sign a few things and then come back with 150 bits for the certificate." she said. i signed a few things and i headed home. i flew by town and got to my house. i can't believe i'm doing this. but it is going to make her so happy.

i got to my house and grabbed the money. took me about ten minutes to count out. i burst through the door that was still a bit broken from yesterday when i flew through it in a rush. i need to get that fixed. i headed over to the orphanage and opened the door.

"oh you're late she already left." said the mare.

"oh well here's the money" i said throwing a bag of bits on the desk. she handed me an official looking certificate of guardianship. i was now officially scootaloo's guardian. "do you know where she went" i asked the mare.

"no i'm sorry sir. she might be with her friends again. she's always hanging around with them" she said.

"thank you." i said.

"no thank you." she said. "you're the first pony to adopt one of the fillies at the orphanage in a long time." i just smiled and waved as i flew away. that was a bit of a disturbing fact. that surely can't be. but i don't have time to worry about that. i started flying around and eventually i was stopped by applejack.

"woah there partener. what are you doing flying around in such a hurry."

"i'm looking for scootaloo."

"what for." she said. i pulled the certificate from my bag and showed it to her. she read over it and her face lit up.

"well i'll be damned you have the biggest heart i've ever seen in a pony. you know what i'll help you find her." said applejack. she bolted off down the street and started looking around. i flew over to the park next.

i looked around and couldn't find her. i looked through the tree's and bushed but she was nowhere to be found. i flew around one last time and i heard a familiar sound from behind me. it was rainbow dash flying from behind me. she flew over and said high.

"hey whatcha doin." she said.

"looking for scoots." i said.

"why." she asked. i pulled out the paper again and showed it to her. she flew right at me and hugged me tight. we almost plummeted to the ground but i kept my wings flapping.

"holy crap i can't believe you did that... you're so amazing. but what are you going to do with a filly like her."

"i don't know yet but i had a daughter of my own in my world."

"i bet you're going to be a great dad." she said with a smile on her face. she rested her head on my chest. "i love you." she said. that hit me hard but i was happy she said it.

"i love you too dashy." i said. we stayed in the air for a bit until she let go of me.

"what are we doing." she said "we need to find scootaloo." she said with a smile on her face . she flew off in a random direction and scouted the ground for scootaloo. i continued on my regular path. i decided to check near twilight's house. i got there and landed at twilight's doorstep might as well tell her too.

the door swung open and a half awake twilight opened the door. i looked over her and almost laughed when i saw the cum stains in her mane, but i kept silent. i don't think she noticed.

"hey crimson what's up." she said.

"i'm looking for scootaloo. do you know where she might be."

"i haven't seen her since last night after fluttershy helped me get home." she said. "why are you looking for her."

i held the certificate in front of her.

"oh my gosh, oh my gosh," she said jumping forward and hugging me. she even wreaked like sex. "that is so amazing of you. but why."

"i'm not sure."

"well of course now i have to help you look just let me get my things" she said walking inside.

"uhm twilight." i said. turning around to leave.

"yeah" she said looking back.

"you might want to take a shower first." i said with a dumb look on my face. i was almost about to burst out laughing. she blushed and closed the door. i flew away and kept looking. i spent almost the entire day looking for her. i checked everywhere. i just decided to sit down in the park.

i hung my head down. this didn't go as i had planned but nothing really ever does. i was about to head to the orphanage hoping she was there when rainbow dash swooped down in front of me. she had a huge smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"c'mon" she said. "we found her. she's at sugarcube corner. everypony is waiting for you." i didn't even stop to say anything to dash i just flew away and she followed close behind. i whirled past tree's and around corners until i came upon the store. i stood outside the door.

i took a deep breath and closed my eyes. i imagined every possible outcome of this moment. dash landed behind me and put a hoof on my shoulder. she looked at me and smiled and i smiled back. i pushed open the doors and looked around for scootaloo.

i saw her surrounded by her friends. everypony was there. rarity, applejack, pinkie, twilight, fluttershy, and even the cakes. i started to tear up. she turned around and looked at me she had tears in her eyes and she smiled.

she bolted over to me and jumped up to hug me. i kneeled down and caught her. i held her tight and she started crying again. i almost started crying too. she started to remind me more and more of my own daughter. i had tears rolling down my face.

i looked at my friends and they all had big smiles on their faces. they all looked at me with a mixture of happiness and approval. i knew i did the right thing and i was going to keep doing the right thing.

"thank you so much." scootaloo said through her tears.

"its alright." i said. "i've got you now. everything is going to get better i promise." she continued to cry but she was happy i could tell. tears started to well up in the eyes of my friends. rainbow sat down beside me and put a hoof around us.

when i thought about it i had no idea why i did this. but i don't regret it. i felt great right now. scootaloo finally stopped crying and she jumped down from me. she smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes and her friends ran over to her. they started talking and jumping around.

my friends soon walked over to me. twilight put a hoof on my shoulder and the others smiled at me.

"yah got a big heart there partner." said applejack.

"you did the right thing darling." said rarity.

"i hope you take good care of scootaloo." said fluttershy.

"i'm proud of you." said twilight.

"that was like the most super duper nicest thing i've ever seen ever." said pinkie. she always had a way to brighten up the mood. i looked over to rainbow dash. and she smiled. she didn't say anything she just leaned in and kissed me.

i looked down to scootaloo. i looked over at the window and back at her. it was getting dark. i smiled at her and she at me.

"c'mon scootaloo." i said. "it's getting dark. we should go home." hearing that sentence made her perk up she jumped up and i let her on my back. i waved goodbye to my friends and left the shop. they left behind me and we all went home. me and scootaloo just walked away.

"so how do you want to get home scoots." i said

"can we just walk." she said hopping down off of me.

"sure." i said. we walked all the way to my house. we didn't say anything. we just let the moment settle in. we finally got to my house and i opened the door. still need to get it fixed. we walked in and i helped her get to her room. i got her in bed and tucked her in. i was going to make the spare room downstairs her room.

i finally got her settled in and went to go blow out the candle but she stopped me.

"uhm do you think maybe i could sleep with you tonight." she said.

"of course i said." i sat down on the bed and climbed under the covers with her. i blew out the candle and used a shadow to close the door. she jumped a bit when the door creaked close for no reason but i think she figured it out.

she wiggled her way over to me and rested against my stomach. she started to drift off the the rhythm of my my breath pushing my stomach in and out.

"thank you" she said. "dad." that one word almost brought a few tears to my eyes.

"your welcome sweetie." i said. she closed her eyes and smiled and soon drifted off to sleep. i did the same and soon i was dreaming about how things were going to get better. i knew i made the right choice and i hope that scootaloo feels the same way.

i woke up the next morning in the same room with scoots. she had wrapped herself around my arm sometime during the night. i thought about what day it was. it was monday. she probably has school. i nudged her a bit until she woke up.

"huh what." she said waking up. when she opened her eyes and saw me she smiled.

"hey scoots don't you have school."

"oh yeah." she said. she probably got so excited that she forgot. i looked at a clock and it was about noon. she had probably already missed school. i smiled and hugged her.

"tell you what. i'll let you skip school today." i said. her face lit up at the mention of that idea. "but you have to help me decorate your room." i said rubbing her head. she giggled and smiled.

"alright lets do it." she said jumping up and around on the bed.

"alright, calm down. lets get some breakfast first." i said. we walked into the kitchen and i cooked up some breakfast. well i just grabbed a few pieces of pie from the fridge and heated them up in the oven. but still i made breakfast. we gobbled down the food happily together.

after we ate i helped her wash up and we headed out the door. she jumped on my back and i flew us around of course. i spent the day helping her gather supplies and materials and tools. we finally finished shopping and i dumped everything at the house.

first thing first remove the already existing furniture so we can paint. i used a new power i was studying to shrink the furniture to smaller sized and move them. when the room was empty i put a tarp down and got ready to paint.

scootaloo grabbed a roller and dipped it in the pink paint. yes she wanted pink. it wasn't like right in your face pink but it was light and subtle. we painted the coat of pink together and we were already covered in paint.

when that dried i put on a few orange stripes that she wanted. it didn't look too bad. i let that dry while i removed the tarp. she then helped me with the carpet. we started it on one end of the room and pushed it all the way to the other. it fit perfectly.

next were the curtains which were regular beige curtains. next i moved the furniture back in and changed the sheets so they were more of her style. they were the same color as her mane and they had pictures of clouds on them. i put the rest of her furniture in. the drawer with the mirror, the lamp. yes a lamp. it was a light bulb but powered by magic instead. i got a few more for the other rooms.

soon her room was complete and it only took a few hours. when i checked the time it was about 4.

"hey scoots when do you and your friends get out of school." i asked

"around 3" she said.

"c'mon i have some work that i need to do. why don't you go play with your friend." i said walking with her to the living room.

"alright dad." she said as she rushed to the door and bolted outside. there was that word again. once more it almost brought a few tears to my eyes. i walked over to the busted door and took it off it's hinges. i pulled a smaller door from my bag and put it on the ground.

i grew it to normal size and used my shadows to line it up at the door frame. after it was done i lined up the hinges and hammered them in. the door was good at new and i used my powers to tear apart the old wooden door into fire wood for when it's cold.

with that i walked into the kitchen and grabbed a large metal pot. i was in the phase of my hobby where i throw in random intervals of ingredients and hoped that it made something. i grabbed a bit of nightshade and crushed it up . i sprinkled it into the bottom of the pot and poured in some straight alcohol. i put the mixture on the stove top and set the top to low.

the mixture started to bubble and thicken. that was the first sign of knowing that something is going to work when the first two ingredients thicken. i poured in some distilled water and threw in a bit of charcoal. the mixture turned a light green and continued to bubble.

i took a petal from the mill bud we collected last night and tossed it in. the batter turned an evil black and bubbled viciously. it then faded from black and went to blue. a very light purple-ish blue. there were other ways of testing if a potion works.

there are special pieces of paper that you dip into potions if they come out burnt that means it works. i grabbed one of them in my teeth and dipped it in the potion. the second it touched the liquid it burst into flames and burnt my mouth. well it worked and it worked well. that's pretty awesome. i grabbed my journal and wrote down the recipe.

unfortunately the only way to tell what it does id to drink it. i grabbed a few empty beakers and filled them with the potion. there was just enough to barely fill 5 bottles. i picked up the bottle and stared at the bright blue and purple swirls. maybe twilight could tell me what this did but first i should clean up.

i started washing the bottom of the pot when my hoof pushed straight through it. i looked at it in confusion. i checked the pot and saw that the bottom of it was practically paper thin. i guess the potions were taking their toll on the pot. maybe i should get a cauldron. that would be cool. i could set it up outside over a fire pit and brew my potions there.

i was about to head out to twilight when i remembered scootaloo. what if she comes home and i'm not here. i grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a note telling her i was a twilight's. i left the house and put it on the front of the door. i had a bottle of my mysterious brew in my bag and i took flight. i flew around the town and landed on twilight doorstep.

i knocked and she answered the door.

"ah well hello there." she said "hows scootaloo."

"she's wonderful." i said walking in. "probably the best decision i've ever made." i looked around to see the place was a mess "we even decorated her room today."

"i know i saw you two running around with ton of supplies. you're first day as a father and you're already keeping her from school."

"c'mon today was a special occasion. besides how much time of her life is she going to invest into school anyway."

"alright. you've got a good point now what can i do for you." she said. i grabbed the potion and showed it to her.

"make a new potion." she said.

"yep but i have no idea what it does but i tested it and it works." i said also grabbing my note book of ingredients. "here is the recipe, think you might know." she looked over the recipe and pondered for a bit but she looked confused.

" don't think i've ever heard of this recipe before." she said reading it over and over. "i understand all the ingredients but i've never seen them used together." she said.

"dammit, i guess there's only one way to tell what it does" i said.

"well drink up, i kinda want to see this too." she said.

"oh i was thinking of tricking spike into drinking it."

"he's not here." she said. dammit. oh well. i popped the cap and took a little sip. always start with a small dose when testing. i waited and waited but nothing happened. my stomach churned and i though the potion was working but i just burped.

"hmm... interesting." i said.

"here let me see." she said grabbing the vial from my took a little sip and nothing happened. "are you sure it works."

"yeah i'm -" i stopped talking when i felt a knot in my gut. i fell to the ground and saw as twilight did the same. i grabbed my stomach and there was a bright glowing light. when it was over i felt different. i looked over at twilight and almost freaked out. she didn't have a horn anymore or purple hair she was... ME.

i stared at myself until i woke up. i looked down and i freaked out some more that i started yelling. i was twilight. i poked my head and i had her horn. i was even lying in the same place she was standing. it wasn't a simple body mimic it was a full on body to mind transfer. when twilight woke up she started to freak out too.

we both panicked together and when we finally got tired we stopped. i took a deep breath and tried to collect myself.

"did you plan this." she said questionably.

"so we could have sex? yeah definitely i love the feeling of my own dick up my ass." i said yelling with a lot of sarcasm. i still had my own voice.

"alright. i'm sorry just a little confused." i tried to figure this out when twilight's boyfriend stargrazer came strolling down the stairs.

"ah there you are." he said walking over to me. he leaned in and tried to kiss me.

" keep it in your pants there lover boy." i said turning from him and pushing him away.

"hey what's wrong." he said. "and why do you sound like him." he asked. i gave him a minute to put two and two together and he did it surprisingly quickly. he yelled and backed up. "what the hell is wrong with you. why did you do this to my baby."

"do i have to say it again." i said.

"alright everypony just calm down." said twilight walking over in my body still. "i can figure this out." she said. she looked around the bookshelves and pulled out a large book and started skimming over it "ah right here, potion of soul switching... says here if we just drink it again at the same time we should go back to normal."

"alright." i said i grabbed the bottle and took a sip and handed it to twilight. she took a sip too and we waited. after a while i got the same feeling in my gut again and we both dropped. there was a bright light and i woke up... this time in my own body. i patted myself down to make sure it was true and it was.

"oh baby you're so smart." said stargrazer going over to kiss her, but he stopped. "that is you right."

"yeah honey it's me." she said giving him a kiss.

"alright i think i've harassed you two enough for today." i said walking out the door. "bye" i waved as i left down the path. they both shouted out goodbye and i continued on my merry way. i looked in the sky and the sun was starting to set. i should probably go home and wait for scoots.

i took off and made my way home. i zoomed down the road and finally got to the step of my house. i noticed that the door was open a bit. scootaloo must be home. i walked in and looked around but she wasn't there. i heard some fumbling in her room. i walked over and put a smile on my face.

i opened the door and that smile quickly faded. standing there rummaging through drawers was some random pony. he didn't notice me so i cleared my throat. he dropped everything and froze. he turned around slowly to see me standing there with shadow tentacles waving around me. i stared at him with my black soulless eyes.

"oh shit." he said and tried to make a run for it. but i grabbed him by the leg and dragged him over. i stared at him and he started shaking as i held him upside-down by one leg.

"was there a little orange filly here." i asked.

"yes... yes there was." he said trembling

"that was my daughter." i said glaring at him.

"oh shit i swear i didn't touch her... i swear she came in here with her friends or something and then ran away when they saw me...i swear i didn't hurt them please don't kill me." he said shielding his face.

"where did they run to."

"the... the forest they ran to the forest." he said still trembling. "please let me go."

"fine." i said ripping the bags from his body most likely containing a bunch of my shit that he stole. "you have five seconds to make it from here to the end of the road or i will kill you and mount you're head over the fireplace." i said dropping him to the ground. he scrambled to his hooves and ran away faster than i've never seen a pony run so fast.

i quickly ran outside and dismissed my shadows. i ran into the forest. i started calling out names and followed the path to the bog. i looked around but couldn't find them and eventually broke through to the bog. they weren't here either.

i looked over and saw fluttershy's house. they could be there. i flew over to fluttershy's house and landed at the door. i knocked and she opened the door.

"oh good you're here..." she said

"is scootaloo here." i said trying to look past her.

"yes she is." she said "scootaloo. you're new dad is here." she said. i heard hoofsteps running down the stairs and scootaloo reared her head. she ran past fluttershy and hugged my leg. her friends came down the stairs too.

i kneeled down and picked her up. she seemed scared because her eyes were puffy and red.

"she and her friends came over here crying." said fluttershy. "she said something about a stranger in your house. i think you might have been robbed."

"i took care of it." i said "it's alright honey. he can't hurt us. i promise."

"i'm sorry i ran away... i was just scared."

"thats alright... you did the right thing coming here... now c'mon lets go home its getting dark." i said patting her on the back.

"alright daddy." she said. i looked over at the other girls who were smiling.

"do you three need a ride home." i asked.

"no its fine..." said fluttershy. "i can take them home, you just worry about scootaloo."

"alright, thanks fluttershy." i said walking away from the doorway. i picked up scoots and put her on my back. she held on tight and rested her head on my back as i flew away. i made my way to our house and flew right in. i let her off of me and made her some dinner while i put away some of the things that pony was stealing.

after dinner was done i put scootaloo in her bed and tucked her in. i told her a story of when i was a kid how every day i would go into the woods with my best friend and we would climb the rocks and walk across the stream on a log. all the fun i used to have as a kid. the story finished and i kissed her on the head.

"good night sweetie" i said.

"good night daddy." she said. i started to walk out of the room and she said something else. "i love you." she said. i stopped dead in my tracks. i didn't expect to hear those words from her so soon. but i was happy about it.

"i love you too baby." i said looking back and turning off the lamp. i closed the door a little but left a crack in it. i went into the living room and blew out a few of the candles. i kept one lit on the coffee table. i headed upstairs and crawled into my own bed.

my eyes grew heavy when i reminded myself. she had school tomorrow so i need to set the alarm. i went over to my alarm clock and set the alarm for six just to be safe. i put the clock back down and climbed back into bed.

****i let the weight of the blankets slowly put me to sleep. my eyes grew heavy and eventually i dozed off. it's been a long time since i've had these feelings. it was a good thing she was with me. and i wanted her to be with me. so everypony is happy.


	26. Chapter 26: Never Again

i woke up early in the morning to the sound of the alarm clock ringing off. after going so long without using an alarm i suddenly remembered how much i hate the sound. i hit the button on the clock and it stopped. i slowly rose out of my bed and made it to my feet. i lazily made my way downstairs and over to scootaloo's room. i opened the door and waltzed over to the bed.

"c'mon scoots, time for school." i said nudging her.

"ugh... already." she said. she stuck her head up and looked over to the clock. "ugh, dad school doesn't start until 8:30." she said

"ugh thank celestia." i said. wait did i just thank celestia for that... well come to think of it she probably is the one to thank for that. i fell down and right on scootaloo's bed. it was comfortable.

"dad what are you doing." she said moving over to make room for me.

"i'm so tired." i said quietly with my eyes closed and my head buried in the pillow. she laughed and laid her head down. she waddled over to me and snuggled up against me. i put a hoof around her and dozed off.

i woke up to the feeling of being nudged. it was scootaloo.

"dad, dad, wake up we slept in." she said.

"wha-" i said looking over at the clock. it said 8:24.

"i'll never get to school on time from here." she said.

"don't worry baby i got this." i said getting up and walking out of the room with her. "lets get some breakfast." i said. we walked to the kitchen and got some food. when we stopped eating it was almost 8:30.

"how am i supposed to get to school now."

"hop on." i said kneeling down for her to get on my back. she jumped up and held tight. "ready i said."

"yeah but don't fly too fast."

"we don't have time to fly." i said. before she could question me. i ran to the other side of the room and jumped into one of the shadows. she screamed a little bit thinking i was crazy, but the shadow covered us and i kept falling.

soon the shadow was gone and i was being launched straight into the air right next to the school. i lashed my wings out to break the fall and slowly wade my way back down.

"pretty cool huh scoots." i said. she was holding onto my neck pretty tight but it was cute. she had both eyes fixed on the ground.

"that was so awesome." i heard. i went to thank her when i realised scootaloo didn't say that. then i remembered that i was at the school. i looked down to see a small, pudgy, round kid looking up in amazement. he was standing next to a tall skinny dumb looking kid. they were quite the pair by the looks of it.

i let scootaloo get down off of me and she hugged my leg. before she left two prissy looking fillies walked over to her.

"hey scootaloo who's your friend here." they said laughing.

"he's my dad." she said. their smiles quickly faded.

"no he's not." they said. "your just an orphan." i leaned forward and bent down to stare the two fillies in the face.

"you know i'm standing right here and i can hear everything you two are saying to my daughter." i said calmly. i wanted to scold them but they're just kids. and not mine for that matter. "it would be smart not to insult her while i'm around."

"but- it's...ugh. whatever, c'mon silver spoon lets get out of here." the pink one said storming off with her friend. i laughed and so did scootaloo. she hugged me one more time before joining her friends at the school house.

i was about to take off back home when i was stopped by a pink and purple looking mare. she stopped me and said hello.

"hello." she said.

"oh... morning." i said.

"what are you doing at the school... i know you're not a student." she said with a smile. i laughed a bit for empathy.

"i'm scootaloo's dad. we were running late so i dropped her off."

"oh my gosh you're the colt that adopted scootaloo." she asked sparking up.

"that would be me."

"that is wonderful the school has been absolutely buzzing about her adoption... it's so nice that you did that... and i completely understand why she didn't come to school yesterday" she said. she gave me one more smile and the school bell rang. she walked away to the school. "i was nice to meet you." she said.

i had a feeling that was her teacher. she seemed nice. good to know that the school system is average. but anyways i was tired and wanted to go back to bed. i looked up to the sky and saw a nice little cloud.

i flew straight up and above the cloud. i landed on it with a hefty thump. something didn't feel right. i looked down to see that i had just landed on rainbow dash.

"hey there." she said looking up at me. she freaked me out for a second and i roll off of her.

"way to tell off diamond tiara and silver spoon."

"where those the two fillies making fun of scoots." i said.

"yep." said said resting her head on her arms. "their parents are both filthy rich. and i mean that like money wise because diamond tiaras father is literally called filthy rich."

"thats funny."

"yeah they're both spoiled brats."

"i could tell the second i saw them." i said. "so what are you doing here."

"oh i fell asleep on this cloud last night and i guess it drifted over here."

"you couldn't make the effort to fly to your house." i said. i could tell she was lying and i gave her a suspicious look.

"alright, alright. i know you well enough to tell when you're catching on... truth is i was spying on you."

"thats more like it." i said. "i kinda like it when you spy on me even though i know. it's cute."

"wait how long have you known."

"ever since i could see and hear everything around me."

"smart." she said. "but i hope you know being a father is going to take all the action out of your life." she said.

"i beg to differ." i said when my hearing picked up the sound of twilight's voice calling my name from bellow.

"is that twilight." said rainbow dash.

"i believe so yes." i said peering over the cloud. i dropped from the cloud and went into a free fall but stopped myself when i was almost at the ground. "hey twiley." i said floating upside down. i turned around and landed on my feet.

"i need you to help me find spike." she said

"why." i asked

"because i was going to test a spell on him but he ran away."

"i'll test it for you."

"oh i don't think you..." she said but i cut her off.

"nonsense." i said "i'm pretty sure it will be fine."

"alright... meet me at my house." she said teleporting away. i waved goodbye to rainbow dash and teleported to the library. i opened the door and walked in. twilight came out of the kitchen with a book and put it on the table.

"alright twilight hit me." i said getting ready.

"well the spell is an advanced form of..." she said but i cut her off again.

"i don't care just hit me. it's more exciting that way."

"you're crazy." she said.

"all part of the job now lets get this show on the road."

"alright here goes nothing." she said charging her horn. it started to glow violently and then she shot me with some kind of beam. it covered my body and wrapped me in its glow. i started to rise off the air and was covered head to hoof in some kind of magical field.

it grew brighter and more solid. it soon wrapped around me like a cocoon. when it was fully closed it became dark. i thought that was it but the cocoon tightened and i felt a pain in my stomach. i felt like throwing up. i felt a headache coming on and in my back. my whole body ached and i grit my teeth.

the pain suddenly left my body and i saw a sliver of light. then another. soon they joined together and formed one whole. i fell to the floor and i felt weak. i slowly got up dazed and confused. the only thing i could make out was the shocked look on twilight's face. that can't be good.

"did... did it work." i said. my voice felt faint and softer. probably just tired.

"this shouldn't have happened." she said putting the book back into her face. "no no no this is all wrong." she said running around rampantly looking through books.

"what... i ... ugh my head." i fell to the floor with a thump. my hair fell over my face. i moved it out of the way. it was long and... blonde? weird. i thought. i looked at my hoof. i had pink fur now. ah hell no.

"did... did you turn me... pink?" i asked

"whatever you do don't look in a mirror." she said. of course now i had to find a mirror. i looked over to the dresser she had lying around. there was a mirror on it. i slowly got to my feet trying to wake up from my daze. i slowly gathered my thoughts and made my way to the mirror. i looked in the mirror and froze.

i had pink fur, long blonde hair, and green eyes. she turned me into a mare. what the fuck. i was a full on mare. my voice my face everything. i looked down and checked between my legs... yep full on mare.

i just backed up and froze in the mirror. my face was and expression of pure disbelief and terror. i looked over to twilight who stood in the doorway looking at me with her face flushed red with guilt.

"what did you DO." i said raising my voice.

"it was an accident i swear. the spell was supposed to turn a non pony into a pony. that's why i needed spike to try it and not you... but you kept insisting." to be honest i guess i did deserve this. plus this was quite the rush.

"well i guess i did have this coming to me." i said just then i saw the door open. i looked as spike slowly poked his head in.

"hey twilight..." he said "i'm ready to do the test." he said. walking in. he looked over to me and his eyes lit up. "hey who is this." he said practically floating over to me.

"sup killer." i said. he seemed confused for a second. so i gathered my shadows and stared at him with my black eyes. he yelled and ran into the corner.

"i hate it when you do that." he said. "and what did you do... were you going to turn me into a girl." he said pointing to twilight.

"would everypony please shut up and let me figure this out." she said yelling. "now i can fix this just shut up and give me a minute." she said. she could be a bit scary when she was mad.

i crossed my arms and sat down while i waited for her. she went upstairs and started rummaging through a few things. i looked over to spike.

"WHOA" i said shifting away from him. he had a raging hard on. "you could have at least warned me." i said covering my eyes.

"i'm so sorry." he said grabbing a pillow and putting it on his lap.

"is everything okay down there." i heard twilight say from upstairs.

"yeah everything is fine..." i shouted up "just hurry." spike's face was bright red. he looked away from me and i tried not to make eye contact. one of the most awkward moments ever. it was even worse since i was a female now and he was being turned on by me... kinda weird.

eventually twilight came back downstairs with a bottle in her mouth. she walked over to me and gave it to me.

"here this is a failsafe potion. it will fix you." i was about to take a swig when i remembered something.

"wait if i drink this will it turn me back into a human as well."

"damn forgot about that." she said. she started to pace around. "well i can't think of anything else. other than to find the reversal of the spell, but that could take some time."

"well time is not one thing we really have."

"why not."

"because i have a kid now... and if scootaloo see's me like this it probably might scar her for a while."

"dammit i hate it when you're right." she said. "well do you have a better idea."

"actually i do."

"what."

"just do the spell again."

"that's not going to work."

"why not..." i asked with a smile.

"because... because... fine we can try it again." she readied herself and shot me again with the beam. i started to raise up into the air. but then the light started to wave and flicker and i dropped. i landed on my back i hit my head.

i got up and rubbed my head. twilight had the book floating in her face again

"i don't think it worked." said spike. i didn't say anything i just gave him a dirty look and he turned away.

"well i have an idea of my own." i said. "but we need to go to my house. first.

"what for." asked twilight

"just trust me." i said. i stood up and covered the room in darkness. there was blackness everywhere, but then the shadows faded and we were in my house.

"woah." said spike "that's creepy."

"yep." i said. "c'mon this way" i said leading them into the kitchen. i grabbed the potions book next to the sink and opened it up. "m...m...m ah here it is, multi coloring, mute, male gender potion, ah here magic reversal potion."

"well that's a handy book." said twilight.

"the magic reversal potion will reverse the most recent magical affiliation from the consumer." i said reading from the book. " i had intended to make some of these just in case something like this should happen... but i got distracted and forgot."

"hmm i may need to take this book back from you." she said laughing at her own irony.

"now lets see here. two ounces of oleander. cows milk...and... a dragon scale." spike cringed at the sound of the word dragon scale. me and twilight looked at him with content.

"oh no... no no no no no... no" he said

"spike." twilight said.

"no"

"spike"

"No... is no twilight" he said. i had the craziest most uncomfortably disturbed idea ever but it was so ingenious. i slowly walked over to spike with a sexy look on my face. i circled around him and flicked him with my tail. i leaned down to his height. i was trying to seduce him... it was hard to keep a straight face.

"please spike... for me." i said batting my eyelashes. i've always wanted to do this. no wonder girls have so much fun with it. this is easy. i circled around him one more time and brushed up against him. he shivered and i looked him in the face with my big eyes. "please."

"any... anything." he said almost drooling. i didn't really get a good look at myself before but i must have been good looking. i bit one of his scales with my teeth and yanked it. he yelled in pain and fell down. a bunch of little hearts fell around him and disappeared into the ground. i started laughing. and looked as spike blushed.

"that was probably one of the most disturbing things i've ever seen." said twilight.

"then why did you watch." i said seductively. all she did was blush. as i walked by i flicked her with my tail too. this stuff was fun. damn i was such a tease. i went over and grabbed my boiling pot. i looked at it and remembered the hole in it. i quickly used my powers to fix it and placed it on the burner.

i poured in the cows milk and the oleander. i stirred it for a few minutes and it turned a dark green. i put the dragon scale in a pestle and ground it into dust. i poured the dust in and stirred it. after a few second the potion turned a bright yellow and was illuminant. i grabbed a few bottle and filled them up. i put the pot into the sink and put corks on the potions.

"here." i said to twilight "take on." i gave it to her and she grabbed it. she used one of her spell and teleported it to her house. i uncorked one of the bottles and looked at the liquid inside. "well bottoms up." i said i took a chug.

i was blinded by light and i felt different. when my vision returned i looked around at myself i was back to normal.

"sweet it worked." i said. i covered my mouth. i still sounded like a girl.

"maybe a bit more." twilight said. i put the bottle to my lips and took a small sip.

"hello... hello" still the same. i cleared my throat and tried again "hello... ah there we go." i said when i heard my voice return to normal. everything was back to normal now. i smiled but then it faded when i saw the two of them leaving. i covered the door in sharp spike of shadow and focused their attention on me.

they jumped back and looked at me. i was covered in shadows with my eyes glowing black. yes black can glow. i stared at them with an evil look on my face. i wanted to scare this next thing into them.

"not a word..." i said. "is to be spoken of this to anypony."

"alright jeez." said spike.

"NOT A WORD" i said shaking the house. spike jumped behind twilight who also had a worried expression on her face.

"alright alright. we won't talk about it." she said. i dropped the shadows and returned to normal i smiled again and let them out.

"alright then have fun you two." i said. i closed the door and looked at the kitchen it was a mess. i tidied up and put away my equipment and extra potions. i put away the ingredients and cleaned the pot. i put the pot away and looked at the time. it was almost time for scootaloo to get out of school.

i opened the door and flew all the way over to the school. i whirled by tree's and buildings. soon the school came into view and i saw all the kids running from the building. a few of them went over to the playground to play for a while. scootaloo ran along the path with applebloom and sweetie belle. i watched them get stopped by those two snooty ponies from earlier. i flew above them and listened in on the conversation.

"just because he adopted you doesn't make him your father." said the pink one.

"shut up yes it does." said scootaloo.

"leave her alone." said sweetie belle.

"yeah crimson is the coolest guy i know." said applebloom

"are you kidding me he's a freak of nature. he is the weirdest pony i have ever seen. i mean seriously. one day he gets dragged here in a coma and now he has super powers... he's suspicious and weird." diamond tiara said.

"yeah and i guess his weirdness has already started rubbing off on you." silver spoon said. they both laughed

"you... shut up." said scootaloo. she had tears in her eyes. i've had enough of this. i put latched my wings to my side and fell.

"or what you're dad is going to get us." i fell to the ground and collected my shadows. i hit the ground with a boom and the earth cracked underneath me. i stared at the two girls with my black eyes. shadows waving beside me.

"i just might." i said with an evil undertone. the two girls ran away screaming and tripping over themselves. i laughed and so did the girls. i looked over and everypony else was laughing. jeez kids these days. i felt a warm feeling behind me. i looked back and saw scootaloo hugging my hind leg.

"thanks daddy." she said

"no problem baby."

"go on scootaloo..." said applebloom. "tell him."

"oh yeah dad there's going to be a talent show in on friday and we wanted to join."

"of course baby... what are you three going to do."

"well we don't know yet."

"alright do you need any help."

"no we can figure it out." said applebloom.

"yeah we'll be alright."

"you kids got heart and a lot of responsibility... i'm proud of you. wish kids in my time were like that."

"thanks dad." said scootaloo and they ran off together. i watched them run over to the park and start fooling around on the monkey bars. they we're cute.

"you know i noticed she's been better in class ever since you adopted her." said a familiar voice. i looked behind me and saw the teacher. " i don't think we ever properly introduced ourselves" she said walking up in front of me. "i'm cheerilee. i teach at the school." she stuck out her hoof.

"and i'm crimson blast... probably the most interesting pony you might ever meet" i said shaking her hand.

"i can tell." she said. i noticed that i was still in my scary shadow form. i smiled and awkwardly laughed while the shadows faded. "you have built up quite the reputation. and i see the rumours don't lie."

"well thank you miss cheerilee."

"your welcome mr. Blast." she said walking off. i flexed my wings and took to the air. i didn't know were i was going or what i was going to do. maybe visit rainbow dash. yeah that sounds like a plan. i flew up to the cloud level and skimmed along the clouds.

i saw her on one of the clouds and dove down. i tackled her and i fell ontop of her on the cloud. she saw me and smiled. then she laughed at her own irony.

"sup." i said rolling off of her and onto the cloud on my back.

"i saw diamond tiara and silver spoon run through here screaming." she said. "it was pretty funny... what did you do."

"oh so you think it was me... i am outraged"

"well was it you."

"yes." i said laughing. she laughed too.

"what did you do."

"oh nothing just scared some sense into them... i don't think they're ever going to bother scootaloo and her friends ever again."

"so i've been thinking."

"what about."

"if the princess does find a way for you to go back home i was wondering what would happen if you left." she said getting serious.

"no... i don't think i'm going home."

"why not don't you have a family."

"they all died in a nuclear explosion that destroyed all forms of life for hundreds of miles."

"oh well i'm sorry about that... is that why you were depressed al week a while ago."

"yeah... shit's tough you know."

"yeah." she said laying back. "i'm glad you're here. i feel... different around you."

"yeah i feel different every day. i usually wake up completely forgetting that i had a life outside of this world. what i wouldnt give to fly down to miami right now and see my mother. maybe hit a few casino's and then the beach."

"sounds... interesting but i've got no idea what you're talking about."

"or maybe go and fly over to france for a nice vacation. see the eiffel tower and indulge in french cuisine."

"alright you're freaking me out now."

"but the one thing i would love to do is take a fly in my fathers plane."

"what the hell is a plane." she asked.

"think of it as a giant machine that you sit in right and its made out of metal and wires and when you turn it on and steer it i makes you fly without wings. like twilight balloon but far, far more advanced. i could build one if i had the parts."

"the way you describe it doesn't make it sound easy."

"well it's not. even if i have to melt down the metal and make wires on my own which i couldn't do."

"well don't go chasing dreams that can fly away from you."

"literally." i said. we both laughed. i laid back and stared at the sun until my eyes hurt then i stared away. "why here." i said.

"what do you mean i don't know why we're on the clouds." said dash.

"i meant why this world. out of all the possible dimensions and worlds i could have been hurled to why was it this one."

"well why not." said dash

"i don't know, it's just, everytime i think about it, i feel like somethings wrong. like i'm missing something, but i just can't figure it out."

"hey." said dash rolling over to hug me. she cuddled up against me. "you need to stop thinking like that. there's nothing you can do so just have fun and ignore it." she said. that made me laugh.

i leaned over and kissed her. i rolled on top of her and pushed my lips harder against her face. i felt her tongue delve into my mouth and i wrapped my tongue around hers. i stayed on top of her until she rolled me over and she was on top of me.

she pulled her head from mine and our mouths were connected by a string of saliva. it broke and fell on me. we both smiled at each other. she fell off of me and landed to the side.

"so how do you do it." she said.

"do what." i asked

"you can do all these things. take the beating of a lifetime and then some and just keep going. i don't get it."

"me either. it's just... just... well if i were to be killed or die then i don't know... i'm not afraid to die... but i'm sad that other people might not carry on. i just don't know."

"you're a good pony... you have good faith in your friends and now family... i'm sure no pony could carry on without you... you were there when we thought you were dead... i'm pretty sure no pony would stop crying... you're a hero."

i had never seen this side of rainbow dash before. she was sympathetic and caring. she was overall... motherly. i leaned in and kissed her again rested my head on her chest. i could hear her heartbeat.

"thanks dash... i needed that."

"hey no problem big guy." she said rubbing my head. she laughed a bit.

"what's so funny." i asked.

"just... not used to seeing you like this. usually you're serious or fighting somepony."

"hey i can be affectionate... i went out with rarity for a few months... you think that's easy."

"fine you got me beat there." she said. we both laid back on a cloud and stared into the sky. we sat there and cuddled for a while before i heard somepony calling my name. "who's that." asked rainbow

"sounds like... twilight." i said diving off the cloud. i flew down to the ground and saw twilight walking around frantically looking for me. i landed on the ground and ran up to her. "hey twilight what's up."

"oh thank celestia i found you... there are royal guards looking for you." she said frantically. rainbow landed next to me just in time to hear what twilight said.

"what are you talking about you're crazy."

"no they're after you... what the hell did you do."

"i didn't do anything." i said.

****"shit there they are." said rainbow dash. i looked down the road and two unicorn guards with armour and spears stood at the end of the street. they saw me and started to charge over. i didn't run though clearly this was a misunderstanding. i just stood there and waited for them to get me... big mistake.


	27. Chapter 27: Damned For All Time

"you there halt." one of them said. finally catching up to me.

"what the hell is going on here." i said.

"you are wanted for crimes against equestria and it's ponies."

"what..." we all said.

"what crimes have i committed." i said. one of the guards put a spear to my neck while the other read from a scroll.

"you are wanted for the combined murder of both carrot top, and daisy doo. what have you to say for these accusations."

"how dare you accuse me without presenting any evidence." i said raising my voice. i couldn't believe what i was hearing.

"we found this at the scene of the crime." one of the guards said holding up my necklace. i looked down. i didn't have it on. "and a few strands of fur at the scene of carrot tops murder. is that proof enough."

there wasn't anything i could say... there was no way i could explain how that happened. i...i...i just stood there bewildered by this.

"hey" said rainbow dash getting in front of me. "i know crimson here and he has done nothing but help and support this town... i would rather be damned than believe that he murdered two mares... if you want him you'll have to get through me." she said.

"surely there must be a mistake." said twilight jumping in front too.

"rainbow twilight stop." i said they looked back in confusion. " that's not helping. there's too much against me to fight this off right now... i'm ready to face whatever punishment i have to bare." i said walking to the guards.

the guard levitated a few cuffs over and chained my legs together. they brought me over to a chariot and put me inside a cage they were pulling.

"no... crimson you didn't do those things." said rainbow walking up to the cage holding the bars and crying. "your innocent and this isn't right."

"it's fine rainbow... promise me you'll take care of scootaloo while i'm gone." i said. she kept crying but she nodded. the guards started to run away and soon enough we were in the air and off to canterlot i presumed. i immediately knew that somepony was setting me up.

i just sat down and admitted defeat. every possible way of escape clouded my mind but i didn't want to escape. i wonder what my punishment would be.

"hey what happens if i'm found guilty." i asked

"well if you're guilty of two accounts of murder then you're going to be executed."

oh shit.

this had to be a mistake i needed to bust out somehow and prove myself innocent. but how. this had to be easier than it looked. i spent the rest of the time contemplating my escape. i tried to summon my shadows but all i got was a really big headache everytime i tried.

"don't even bother." said one of the guards. "those are magic silencing cuffs you're wearing." great just great. now there's no way i could escape not without my powers. after a while we landed in canterlot. near the palace. i looked around and saw all the ponies staring at me like i was a criminal. i guess i was though.

the guards unlocked the cage and started to drag me to the castle. i rustle about and tried to pull them off me but they were stronger than i was without my powers. the other fancy ponies stared in shock except for two whose faces i remember were laughing at me.

the guards dragged me into the palace and went over to an old heavy wooden door. they unlocked it and dragged me down the stairs. as we continued down the only light came from torches put along the path every few feet or so. we got to the bottom and i knew where i was. i was in the dungeon.

they dragged me down the wide hallways past other criminals and murderers. they stopped in front of an empty cell and unlocked it. they threw me in with my shackles still on. one of them lit up their horn and i watched as a barrier presented itself around the cell. the other one came over and undid the shackles. they both walked out and slammed the cell door shut and locked it... i was behind bars.

i sat down and thought about what just happened... what did just happen. why the fuck am i in the dungeon now. i didn't do anything. you think this world would be better at figuring out this kind of stuff. and what was that about execution, they're not really going to kill me... are they.

i heard some of the prisoners around me start talking about "the new guy," bunch of sicks fucks. i'm pretty sure i heard some guy said he was going to rape me or something. like that is going to happen. when i'm out of this cell there will be hell to pay.

the prisoners started yelling out new guy and insulting me. i looked at the ponies in the cells across from mine and they made rude gestures and yelled at me. they were the kind of ponies that belonged in here, not me.

suddenly all of the ponies went silent. there were nothing but whispers and dirty looks. i looked in front of me and saw four guards walk over. then the princess. finally some pony i could talk to.

"OH thank god it's you." i said as they entered my cell.

"you shut your fucking mouth scum." yelled one of the guards punching me in the face. i stood up and bucked him in the chest and he fell back and clasped his chest. the others rushed over to me and beat me down.

"STOP." yelled the princess. the guards stopped beating me and picked me up and stared me at the princess. "why." she asked with a disappointed look on her face. i couldn't believe this.

"you think I did this." i said.

"there's nothing that say's you didn't how can i trust you." she said.

"trust me... Trust me... If i were still human i would have torched this world by now... Do you think with my power i would have stopped at two ponies... DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASSUME. DO YOU." i yelled shaking the room. some of my power returned to me despite of the magic barrier.

i could see the shield around us cracking.

"i never said i didn't believe you... but i did trust you to keep the town safe." she said calmly. "there's too much evidence against you to get you off of this... but the least i can do is not get you killed." she walked away.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE... I HAVE A DAUGHTER." i said as the guards dropped me to the ground. one of them kicked me in the face as they left. they helped the other guard up and left the cell keeping the princess at the doorway. she had stopped when she heard the word daughter. "i have a daughter." i said once more shedding a few tears.

she didn't say anything, she just left and closed the cell door. i sat there in sadness for a while thinking about my friends and family. the other ponies started to talk and make fun of me. my sadness turned into confusion, then into hate.

"SHUT UUUUP." i said shaking the whole building with my voice. there was nothing but silence. i took in a few deep breaths and settled down. i sat down and looked around. there was a wooden board chained to the wall. it had some hay on raggs on it. it also had a pillow case stuffed with paper. i'm guessing that was my bed.

other than that nothing else really. i saw that there was a barred window. that was the only thing giving this room some light really. i walked over and looked through it. i could see the entire mountain side.

i looked around and another guard came in. he had a sort of doctor with him. i was confused.

"Alright shit head time to clip those wings." he said.

"wait no... what." i said but he used his magic to bind me to the ground on my stomach.

"now, now." said the doctor "this won't take long." he said. i don't know what he did because i couldn't see. i felt something cold press up against my wing. there was a snap and i screamed out in pain. "oops my bad." he said laughing with the guard.

"aaargh, i'm going to fucking kill you, you sick fuck, aaah." i yelled trying to get free. i felt the cold feeling on my other wing and started to freak out. there was another snap and i yelled in pain again.

"now that wasn't so bad was it." he said letting me go. i got up off the ground and charged at him. he used his magic to throw me against the wall. "now calm down. we can fix your wings when you're time here is done." he said. he walked off but the guard stayed. he walked over to me.

"hey sorry about that." he said. lending a hoof to try and help me up.

"don't you fucking touch me." i said getting up on my own and backing away.

"you don't remember me do you. i wouldn't expect you to."

"what the fuck do you want."

"i was at ponyville when that dragon attacked a while ago... you saved me and a few of my friends from that beast. i was sure i was dead but you saved us."

"and this is the thanks i get." i said sitting back down. my back was killing me... well mostly my wings"

"i know you couldn't have done this... now i can make this easy on you... if you want"

"i don't want this to be easy... i want this to be right."

"well unfortunately not everything is right."

"you should go before you get in trouble." i said. he walked away and turned back.

"now i don't want to do this but i'm required to give you a roommate to balance out the storring around here." he said. he walked away for a second and brought another pony in with him. he walked out of the cell and used his magic to undo his cuffs.

the guard walked away and i was alone with another pony i knew nothing about.

"what do we have here." he said getting up and circling around me. "Fresh meat." he said. "what's the matter birdy miss his wings." he said laughing. i felt something change, i felt stronger than before. i looked at the cell door and saw the guard smile and his horn stop glowing, i think he just did what i think he just did.

"i'm warning you now to stop." he said. as i stood up. i could already feel my wings healing. he just burst out laughing.

"oh i'm gonna make you squeal like a pig." he said.

"i think not." i said grabbing him by the leg with a shadow and holding him upside down.

"oh what the fuck... shit shit shit." he said. i started laughing.

"squeal like a pig you fuck." i said throwing him around the room. i hit his head against the wall and he went limp, i was sure that i had killed him. i brought him over to me and looked at him... no he was still breathing. just probably knocked him out.

soon enough i heard the door unlock. i looked over to see a few guards. i gathered my shadows under me and used them to make armour. i already recognized their faces as the guards who beat me up in front of celestia.

"oh, ho ho ho this i going to be fun." i said lashing out my shadows and grabbing them all. i walked out into the hallway and held them close. there were three of them. two unicorns and one pegasus. i reached around and broke the horns off of the two unicorn guards. they screamed in pain and started to freak out. i grabbed the other ones wings and broke them. he reacted the same as the others.

i saw a cage full of criminals. i opened the cage door and threw them into the cell. i closed the door and locked it before they could escape. the criminals turned their attention to the three guards. i wanted to watch this.

they jumped on the guards and ripped them apart piece by piece. they were throwing punches and biting them. after beating them up a bit they bent them over and... had their way with them, i didn't need to see that part so a carried on. i spread my wings and rocketed down the corridors. there were guards after me but i was too fast.

i saw a staircase and flew up it. i burst through the heavy wooden doors and i was in the castle courtyard. there were pegasus and unicorn guards everywhere. i looked around and saw the princess walk into the courtyard.

"crimson don't do this." she said. i just glared at her. "not in front of our guests." Guests? i looked next to her. i saw my friends walk into the courtyard... and scootaloo was with them.

"scootaloo?" i said. i dropped to the ground and some of my shadows dissipated.

"daddy." she said running over. i ran over to her but a few guards tackled my. they pinned me to the ground and one guard walked over with his spear. i watched as one guard grabbed my daughter and flew her away "NO DON'T HURT HIM" she said screaming.

the guard with the spear lunged his weapon into my chest. i yelled out in pain. i freaked out and tentacle shadows flew out from every corner. they started skewering guards and ripping them apart.

"Enough." said the princess. her tone of voice was the scariest i've ever seen it. her horn glowed and there was a blindingly white light. it burned and i could feel my shadows disintegrating. i felt something hit me on the head and i fell to the ground. my vision returned and i saw a guard above me.

he brought his hooves up and slammed them down on my back hooves. they snapped and i screamed in pain. he bucked me in the face and another guard came over. he used his magic to break my other two legs. i yelled out in pain again and saw my friends in tears next to the princess.

the princess had a worrying look on her face. the guards binded me with rope and dragged me past the princess and my daughter into the castle. scootaloo was screaming wildly for them not to hurt me.

"NOOOO PLEASE STOP YOU'RE HURTING HIM." she screamed through her tears. i couldn't look at her like this. the guards dragged me to the broken open door to the dungeon and my friends rushed over. they threw me down the stairs. every step i hit was worse than the last. it felt like i was falling down them forever.

i finally reached the bottom. i threw up a bit of blood and tried to crawl away. but i couldn't. i looked at my legs and stared in horror at my them. they were mangled and torn. the bone was sticking out of two of them and they were twisted.

the guards came down and dragged me away. down a long dark hallway. they brought me over to a large metal door. they unlocked it and threw me in. they shut the door behind me and left. it was cold and dark and lonely in here. i started to break down and cry. i cried because of my friends and my daughter. and also because of the incredible pain i was in.

i tried to see if i could use my powers. i was able to use some subtle influences to help fix my body. i healed the bruises and set my legs back together. but they weren't completely healed and still broken. i still sat there and cried until i heard something.

"well what do we have here."

"please don't..." i said to whoever that was "just please leave me alone."

"trust me buddy after that scene you pulled ain't nopony gonna fuck with you.

"who are you." i asked.

"just think of me as a friend." he said moving out of the darkness so i could see him. he was a simple earth pony. brown fur and an orange mane. he had a pocket watch for a cutie mark and he looked like he was blind in one eye.

"i use that term strictly here." i said. he laughed

"and i don't blame you."

i just kept laying there nothing much i could do about it though. he walked over to me and looked at my legs. he pushed me over into the corner of the room that had any light whatsoever. i let the light hit me and it warm and comfortable.

"here..." he said "this is the best spot in the cell and i guarantee you you're legs will be better by morning."

"thank you." i said. "what's your name." i asked.

"we don't use names here just numbers that they give us... i'm 35 but that's not my full number just the last two digits he said turning around. he had a burn mark on his side that read 0072435. he walked away and to the other side of the room. he laid down and went to sleep.

i couldn't bare to stay awake for much longer so i closed my eyes and tried to fall to sleep. i just ended up crying myself to sleep. it worked and i was out like a light. i just dreamed about being in a family.

i was in my house, and scootaloo was sitting next to me and it was winter. we were sitting by the fireplace as i tended to the flames. we laughed for no reason. then rainbow dash walked in. she had some hot chocolate with her. she gave us both a cup of hot coco and sat down to enjoy her own.

i reached a hoof around her and we hugged. scootaloo jumped in the middle of us and we all stared into the flames. i looked at her and she smiled.

"hey honey i have big news." she said.

"what's that baby." i asked

"i'm pregnant." she said. i was overcome with joy and so was scootaloo. i hugged her and we fell to the ground hugging. scootaloo jumped on top of me and hugged me too. we were a family. as good as the dream was it was soon over and i woke up. i looked around and remembered everything. my happiness soon was drowned out by sorrow.

"you must have had a good dream." said my cellmate. "you were smiling in your sleep."

i didn't say anything. i looked down. i felt better in some way. i looked at my legs and they didn't look bad. i moved them around a bit and they felt fine. i got up and walked around a bit.

"see what i tell you... good as new."

"how is that possible."

"so you don't know the legend."

"what legend." i asked.

"well the legend says that nightmare moon would watch over the prisoners of this dungeon and help them so one day they could join her army and overthrow the princess... even though nightmare moon is no more her child the moon still looks over equestria."

"that is some legend." i said.

"yeah it is quite of a stretch but it works."

"i guess so." i said. we continued to talk until a few guards came to the cell and opened it.

"alright scum time for you to get in the yard."

"in the yard..." i said "i thought this was solitary confinement."

"you wish... this is the maximum security holding cell." one of them said "now get in the yard." he said

i walked out of the cell and they brought all the prisoners in the yard. i went over to the wall and sat down. i was still tired. soon a bunch of the other prisoners started to surround me. i just gave them a dirty look.

"well if it ain't the new guy... i'm gonna have to thank you for throwing us those guards yesterday... really helped blow off some steam." he said with a dirty smile.

one of the prisoners managed to shove his way through the crowd of ponies. he was the biggest guy i've ever seen, he was bigger than big macintosh.

"well, well, well if it ain't the new guy." he said. i'm tired of hearing that. it's like almost every prisoner here shares a brain. "time to break you in i guess he said" he raised a fist but my cell mate jumped in the way and the bigger pony stopped.

"you don't want to do that 13." he said staring the pony in the face. the other pony just looked at him for a moment and walked away. the group dispatched when the guards came over. they had a branding iron with them.

"alright prisoner time for your number." they said. like hell i was going to let that happen. i lashed out a few shadows at them and grabbed them by the neck each. i stood up and brought them close to me. the other prisoners started to cheer. one of the guards threw something at me.

it exploded in my face with a flash of light and i was blinded. i fell to the ground and i felt myself being restrained.

"nice try but we know how you play... that won't work on us." one of them said. i felt a horrible burning pain on my chest and i yelled out in pain. they pressed against my chest harder and i grit my teeth and yelled some more. they pulled the branding iron from my chest and i clasped my chest.

my vision returned and i saw the guards walk away laughing. i looked down on my chest and i could barely make out the number. it was 1135942.

"well well. how you doin 42." said the big pony who threatened me earlier. he walked up to me and bucked me in the face, i felt my snout break and i yelled. i lashed out several shadows out at him in anger and held him up for the entire courtyard to see. i flew up and collected my shadows. i grew my armour and everything was quiet. he looked at me in horror.

"you ponies don't get it do you." i felt a sharp pain in my back and looked over. there was an arrow sticking out of my back. then another flew bye. a few guards had come to break up the fight. i turned my attention to the pony i already held captive and put a shield around me so nopony could stop me.

i grabbed him by the head and limbs. i pulled and tore of one of his arms. he screamed in pain. i continued to pull apart limbs until his head was left. i slowly started to pull on his head and his skin and muscle started to tear. he screamed in agony and i laughed at him. i ripped his head off of his shoulders and threw his body to the ground.

i slowly floated down with his head next to me. i landed and held his head up for everypony to see. if i'm going to be stuck in here there's no way in hell that i'm going to be fresh meat. i stood there and a few guards tackled me and beat me down. i let my shadows fall back into place.

the guards binded me and dragged me away. they dragged me back into the dungeon and over to a door. it looked more solid than the other one i was in. the sign above the door said solitary confinement. they opened it up and threw me in. i hit the ground with a thud and they unbound me.

this was perfect. i already had a plan to get out of here. i just needed to wait it out a bit.

and that is what i did i waited it out. it's hard to tell how long it has been when you're in a room that is constantly dark but hearing what's going on outside was the only thing keeping me sane. it felt like forever but i had to guess that it was only a month i was in there.

the guards forgot one thing. they can blind me and gag me when i lash out in fury but they can't do so when they are blind themselves. i just needed to wait. and maybe i can get out of this hell hole.

it was one day that i heard a few guards coming over i listened in on their conversation as they stood in front of my door.

"are you sure we should be moving this prisoner at the night of the gala." he said night... that was good.

"we don't have a choice... you heard what the captain said. he wants him in the maximum holding cell to ensure he doesn't get out."

"yeah but he hasn't even moved since we put him in there."

"that just means he's planning something... remember what the princess said."

"yeah yeah... be careful around him i get it."

"alright come on." he said. i heard the door click as they unlocked it. now was my chance i quickly leapt over to the side of the door so the light wouldn't hit me and gathered my shadows. i then disappeared in the darkness.

the door swung open and it was time for me to put a month of thinking into escape.

now was my chance.


	28. Chapter 28: Running Away

the door hit the wall with a crash and the guards walked into the cell. and i walked out without anypony noticing.

"where is he." one of them asked.

"come on out you're time in the hole is up scum." the other on said.

they walked around and kicked a few things over. they both jumped, i think they finally figured it out. i was going to kick the door shut but that would make it seem like i was still there. ah what the hell i'll do it anyway. i kicked the door shut and left. leaving those two in there to rot.

that will probably help delay the news from spreading.

i started running down the halls trying to find something. i ran left and right and everywhere. eventually i heard two voices screaming down the hallways.

"PRISONER 1135942 HAS ESCAPED." one voice said. probably those two guards.

"LOCK ALL THE CELLS AND DOORS COVER THE EXIT, MOVE MOVE MOVE."

i bell went on that echoed through the hallways and the prisoners started to freak out. i kept running around and i came across it. my maximum holding cell. i went over and kicked the door in while everypony was in the confusion. luckily those two idiot guards that were guarding this place were the same ones sent to get me.

i peered into the darkness and looked around.

"35... 35 are you in here." i whispered.

"35 is dead... he was executed yesterday... i'm 46 and if you think you're breaking out of here without me you're wrong." said a different pony walking out of the darkness. he was pretty big and malicious looking.

"your cell is open but you're not getting any help from me." i said disappearing back into the shadows. i ran away. i wasn't totally moved that 35 was dead, i thought of it as only repaying a favor. if he was executed then he probably deserved it.

i barreled down a hallway until i found a room labeled confiscations. my necklace must be in there. i walked in to see two guards chatting. i looked around and didn't see it. and i can't open any of these chests without them noticing. so it was time to do what i do.

i slammed the doors shut and covered the room in darkness.

"who's there" on of the guards said "show yourself." i lashed out a few tentacles at the guards and pinned them to a wall. i ripped one of the guards in half without showing myself. the other guard screamed. wait that guard was a women. i can't hit a woman.

i walked over to show myself and she tried to struggle free. i looked at her and noticed she had a necklace on. it was my necklace. i grabbed it and ripped it off her neck without breaking it. and i put it around my neck. i stared at her with anger in my eyes.

i said i couldn't hit a woman... so i reached around and snapped her neck backwards. she fell to the floor and laid there lifelessly. i opened the door and it was time to escape. i ran through the halls running in the shadows and staying silent.

i got to one part of the hall leading to the stairs and it was covered with guards. there was no way i could squeeze past all of them. so i had an idea. i walked up the wall and onto the ceiling using my powers to stick to the ceiling.

i then simply walked by the guards calmly without them noticing. i had to crouch though because it was still a bit low to the ground. i got past that wave of guards and i saw the staircase. i climbed down from the ceiling and got back to the floor.

i ran to the stairs and up them. it seemed like forever but i finally got to the door. it was still closed. that's not good. i can't just have ponies see the door open randomly. so i sat there waiting for somepony to open it for me. soon enough somepony did.

"you guard go alert the princess of the situation."

"yes sir." i head somepony say. i soon saw a guard running up the stairs he reached the top and opened the door... fool's all of them. i crept out and he shut the door behind him.

i looked around to the brightly lit palace and there were ponies everywhere. i jumped into the shadow of the guard and followed him. it must have been some kind of party because the castle was filled with ponies dressed up and mingling.

didn't that guard say something about the galla or whatever. this must be it. i understand why they didn't want me to get out. this must be a very important party. the guard eventually made it to the princess. i looked in awe as the princess spoke to none other than my friend twilight sparkle.

the guard got to the princess and i dropped behind her and into her shadow. i listened in.

"not now guard... i am speaking to my good student twilight." said the princess

"but princess two prisoners have escaped."

"so take care of it." she said.

"that is going to be difficult"

"why is that." she asked

"because one of the prisoners that escaped was him." he said as if the princess knew who that was. i knew who he was talking about and i'm pretty sure she did too.

"alright... i see."

"he was not in his cell so we have reason to believe he had escaped earlier but two guards were found dead in the confiscations room and one of the prisoners in the maximum holding cell was released."

"triple the security and come back later with a report." said the princess.

"you can't find him princess." said twilight. "i know my friend and he probably left already to go home."

"no he is still here i can feel it."

"why did you do this to him... you know better than i do that he is innocent."

"we had to... with the unknown threat rising we had to listen to the demands." i couldn't believe what i was hearing. was i put in the prison by the princess because she had too. i said there was going to be hell to pay when i get out and now hell is here.

i crept out of the shadows and into another one. i ran along the castle and outside. the courtyard was full of ponies and i think... i did. i saw fluttershy running around chasing a few animals. she looked like a mess. i looked around for something to use. ah this rock will do nicely.

i picked it up and threw it at one of the stain glass windows. the window shattered and all the ponies gasped. soon the courtyard was flooded with guards but i had already left back inside. i walked around and noticed the throne room was empty. nothing really to do in there so i continued.

i got back to the main hallway with the princess at the top of the stairs still with twilight. they were arguing about me. it's good to know i still have friends. but i have had enough of this. i used my powers to close all the doors and lock them from the inside.

the princess and twilight diverted their attention to the doors. that's when i made myself visible. i stared the princess down until she saw me. standing there in the middle of the room. i had used my shadows to put a cloak and cape on me. the cloak was masked and i was wearing my armour. i had shadows dancing around me and i was full of hate.

"ah so nice of you to join us." said the princess.

"how could you." i said.

"what-" she said but i cut her off.

"don't you talk to me you lying BITCH." i yelled shaking the room. the room quaked and one of the columns holding up the roof fell behind me. it crashed to the ground and shattered. the ceiling started to crack.

"HOW COULD YOU DUMP ME IN THAT PRISON,"

"you had too much against you."

"NO I DIDN'T" i yelled another column fell. " I KNOW YOU PUT ME IN THERE BECAUSE YOU SAY YOU HAD TO."

"crimson you don't understand. somepony had luna in custody and demanded you be thrown in prison or else she would be killed."

"don't think you can weasel your way out of this." i said "it was always you."

"crimson..." i cut her off.

" it was YOU. that had me arrested in front of my friends."

"crimson..." i cut her off again.

"it was YOU that watched as i was beaten in front of my daughter."

"crimson im-"

"it was YOU that threw me down the stairs and laughed as i hit every step and broke all my bones."

"crimson please." she said. my yelling caused more and more of the room to collapse around us. i had a shield that protected me as i yelled.

"AND IT WAS YOU THAT BRANDED ME LIKE AN ANIMAL." i said dissolving my armour around my chest to show her the brand on my chest.

"crimson im-"

"there is no more time for apologies princess... my tolerance for this place is gone. though i wish that my friends can forgive me, i hope you know what you have done." i said. the building collapsed and the main hall fell around us. my shield kept me protected and the princess had one of her own.

the entire hall was in shambles. there was glass and stone everywhere. what was once a beautiful attraction is now a sad mess on the ground. i stared at the princess with hate and anger.

"there is no use anymore... i'm leaving now."

"you can't go back to ponyville... you can't go anywhere." she said trying to sound mad. she wasn't she was broken inside, on the verge of tears. the ponies at the party had all gathered around the mess. soon my other friends had joined twilight who was in tears.

"i know... that's why i'm leaving equestria." i said. and with that i disappeared and took off. i did have to stop at ponyville to do something first. i flew as fast as i ever had before. i flew all the way to my house in ponyville. it was shut but i kicked the door in. i grabbed my bag.

i grabbed about 1000 bits, a bunch of potions, a tarp, and some rope. i grabbed a bunch of other things too but the list goes on too long. lucky for me i had twilight enchant my bag once with an infinite storage spell. before i left i grabbed some paper and a quill and wrote a note to my friends and scootaloo.

the note read: "dear friends and family. i'm sure you all know the news and by the time you get this i will be far too gone. i leave everything i have to my daughter scootaloo because she must be hurting the most and i would hope my friends are looking after her... i'm so sorry for everything that has happened." with each word i had begun to cry on the paper and stain it, but i wrote on.

"i hope that you can all forgive me. i had come here hoping to have fun and start a new life after my old one was destroyed. i guess not. i might never come back but don't cry for me. just carry on. love, crimson blast." i folded up the note and took it with me.

i flew out of my house and down the street. i stopped when i found a shop that sold dye's. i broke in and stole 2 dye's at random. i then flew away. i got to an alleyway and looked at them. one was black the other was red. they were magic dye's they would only come off with dye remover which i didn't steal.

i put the black dye on my first coat and the magic helped it spread evenly and dry. and then i applied the second one. i looked around and saw a shattered window. i walked over and looked at myself through it. i had a dark red mane and dark grey fur. i was somepony else.

with that done i flew off into town and over to twilight's house. i took the note and slid it under the door. and then i left. i looked back to the town and closed my eye's i cried for a moment. i gathered my thoughts and took off. i had nothing to my name but i wasn't crimson blast anymore.

this was the start of a new chapter in my life. i had to start a new. i was to be known as

****Shadow Runner.

-Authors Note: well that's that... now it's time to start fresh with a new life out of equestria. I've already got most of this planned in my head. i still have yet to decide whether or not crimson blast... or should i say Shadow runner, will ever return. maybe maybe not... i'm going to decide that later. but this is now the official ending to season one in the fanfic. -End of Note.-


	29. Chapter 29: Where Two Worlds Meet

i've been flying for days now trying to get out of equestria but i've only managed to make it past las pegasus. i've been heading south according to my compass hopefully i will make it out soon. i haven't stopped in any cities yet and i have run into guards a few times.

but i did stop and get a map of equestria. according to this i shouldn't be far from the magical barrier that separates equestria from the rest of the world. i continued flying for about another day. when it was night i camped out in a cave and had a few fruits that i stole from a vendor.

when it was morning i took off again. i was tired but not too tired that i crashed. i flew and flew for days when suddenly i found it. the barrier. i had been following the main road for the entirety of my journey and now i found my way out. i flew over and looked at the giant barrier.

it was really something. like looking at a huge rainbow. it glowed multiple colors and resonated magic. i walked over and looked through to the other side. it was snowing and cold out there. equestria must be a different place entirely. i sucked up my gut and flew through. i was out finally.

the harsh cold hit me and it was murder on my wings at this altitude. i had to land. i flew down and landed on the ground. it wasn't as bad as it was before. i kept walking and thought about where i was going. this road has to take me somewhere. so i walked.

i kept walking and walking until i felt like my legs were going to give in. at least the snow let up and i could bare the cold. i looked around me and i started heading into a thick winter shrub. i looked around and noticed i was heading into a mountain region. the road got a bit bumpy and it was getting darker. time to pack in for the night.

i stepped to the side of the road and into the forest. i set up my tarp between a few tree's and went to collect wood for a fire. after collecting a few sticks or so i sat under my tarp and lit the fire. i had learned that my tarp was fireproof so that made life easier. i brushed away as much snow from around me so i could sleep but it just all rolled back in.

it got very dark and i didn't have any more food. i had some water and i still had those potions. hard to believe it had been almost two weeks since i left. i wonder how my friends are holding up. i stayed close to the fire and laid down in the snow.

it was cold and wet. probably melting because of the fire, but i was too tired to care. i knew i should have brought two tarps with me. i laid my head down on a rock and closed my eyes. i let the warmth of the fire put me to sleep.

i woke up the next day cold and shivering. i was sleeping in a puddle of melted snow and damp leaves. the fire had gone out while i was sleeping. i picked myself up and tried to dry off as best as i could. i folded up my tarp and covered the remains of the site in snow.

i headed back onto the road and continued south. about halfway through the day the path started heading uphill into the mountains. i bared the terrain and it started to snow lightly again. it wasn't as cold as it was before. i managed to make my way to i straight away around the mountain. i stayed close to the edge.

i tried to fly but my wings were too sore from flying for 2 weeks straight. so i had to walk. i kept walking for a while before it got dark. i noticed a cave nearby. i walked in and put my stuff down. i grabbed the lantern from my bag and lit it up. the cave was empty . that was good, one time when i tried to stay in a cave there were bears.

i lit a small fire and laid down on the cold stone floor. it was better than laying down on the wet snowy ground. the fire soon warmed the cave up and i fell to sleep. i kept having the same dream every night.

the one where me dash and scootaloo were sitting at the fireplace and dash would tell me she is pregnant. the dream had been occurring ever since the first time i had it in the cell that night. it was almost like it was a memory. it scared me a bit.

i thought something was wrong with me. i've even developed a bad habit of talking to myself just to remember what it feels like to have company. and i've been having hallucinations of my family and friends. probably just from the lack of nutrition and water. i need to find some food.

i was woken up in the middle of the night by a bell. i looked up to see an older pony standing over me. thank god somepony i can talk too.

"you don't mind if i can stay in this cave with you."

"of course not... there's plenty of cave to go around." i said getting up and checking the fire. it was still going but it was a bit weak. i grabbed my bag and grabbed a potion of ever burning. i put it on the fire and it lit right up. the old pony took a seat next to me. he whistled and a cow came in. it had a bunch of bags and stuff tied to it.

kinda weird seeing this guy with a cow and some stuff. maybe he was a trader. that means he would have food.

"are you a trader." i asked.

"why yes i am... been wandering the snowy roads of southpaw all my life."

"do you have food." i asked.

"of course i do"

"oh thank god." i said

"ah a religious man huh." he said. wait religious. "i could tell from the second i saw the cross around your neck."

"so there are other ponies that believe in what i do."

"of course." he said still rummaging through his bag. "where do you think we are, equestria."

"well i'm coming from equestria."

"well that is quite the journey i'd have to guess." he picked out a bag and threw it to the ground and opened it up. "here take your pick." he said. there was a ton of food in here. rice cakes, grits, apples, and even some bottles of beer. i grabbed the grits and the beer and started eating.

"how much..." i said stuffing my mouth.

"woah nelly you must be starving."

"do you take bits."

"are they made of gold." he said

"yes."

"then yes i take bits." he said. i threw him a few bits and he looked at them. he bit one and bent it. "well i'll be damned i thought equestria was cheaper than this."

i finished my food and laid back near the fire. i let out a loud belch and looked into my bag for my canteen.

"how much to fill this canteen and for the apples you have there." i asked

"the apples are going to be one gold piece each. and consider the canteen on the house for letting us share the cave."

"thank you." i said. i grabbed the apples and put them in my bag. there were 17 of them but i gave him 20 bits. he filled my canteen with water and i put it aside. "so where is the closest town." i asked.

"that depends what kind of town are you looking for."

" just a town i can start over in."

"why would you need to start all over so far from equestria."

"well it's a bit of a story."

"are you kidding i love stories... fire away friend." he said sitting back.

"well i'm a very wanted criminal in equestria. and now i have to run away from my friends and family because the princess was intent on hunting me down."

"well what did you do."

"i was falsely accused of murder and when i was thrown in jail for a few weeks i broke out and destroyed the castle in canterlot."

"well hot damn son..." he said jumping up. "how did you go on doing something like that."

"that's a dark secret that i want to burry along with my past life."

"alright... i can respect that." he said. i laid down and he did to. he untied the luggage from the cow and the cow laid down too. "tore down the fucking castle on that bitches head hot damn." he said laughing.

"so where can i go from here."

"let me tell you something" he said. "out here in southpaw there are two major groups of ponies. the red dawn, and the and the azure alliance. the red dawn are against keeping southpaw and her citizens a united nation and want to join together with equestria."

"and the azure alliance doesn't"

"no they do not, not one bit." he said shaking his head. "the two allegiances are at war right now. if i were you i would go to the alliances capital... indigo city. nice place just past the mountains. maybe a few days travel."

"thank you stranger." i said resting my head on my hooves.

"not a problem." he said. i closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. that night i had the same exact dream again. and it always ends the same way too. with me on top of rainbow dash hugging her. i haven't seen it go any further than that.

i woke up early morning and got up. the old man was still sleeping and the fire had gone out. i kicked the ashes and picked up my stuff. i took a sip from my canteen and slung it over my shoulder. i walked outside just as the old man started getting up.

"i hope you didn't steal any of my stuff" he said getting up.

"i would never steal from a friend." i said.

"alright... i have to go now i hope you find what you're looking for." he said taking off in the direction i came in. i walked away too. having eaten those grits last night and that beer really cleared up my mind. i felt more energetic than before. i flexed my wings out and i could fly again. i took off and followed the path up the mountains. i flew high over the mountains to decrease my time

the snow had picked up and it grew harder to see. i finally made it over the mountains and i could barely make out a large city resting between the two mountains. i flew over but the storm had picked up and turned into a blizzard. the winds had started to push me around and my wings froze. i fell to the ground and landed with a thud.

i tried to get up but the snow pounding on my back and my injuries were too great. the blizzard had blown me away from the path and into the side of the mountain. i rolled down the mountain and rolled onto the path.

i really couldn't get up now. i started to crawl and eventually the town city came into view. i tried to get there but the snow was falling around me too fast and i couldn't see. i looked down at the ground to make sure i was still on the path.

the gravel and rocks scattered around the path started to wear down on my stomach and arms. i started to bleed a bit from my belly and my arms. but i kept crawling. i remembered that i had a health potion in my bag. i reached in there and rummaged around for the potion.

it took awhile to find it and the snow around me was piling up. i had almost decided to give up but i finally got it. thank god. i grabbed the cork and pulled. it didn't come off. i pulled and pulled again but i didn't have the energy or strength right now to do it. i dropped the bottle and it rolled away. i collapsed and let the snow cover me.

i closed my eyes and everything went black. i hope this isn't the end i really do. i started to go over everything i could have done to prevent this but it was too late now. i closed my eyes and fell asleep.i had the same dream again.

****This time it was sad.

-Authors Note: i'm just saying i posted this chapter early because i touched up on this one a bit. it was originally part of chapter 28 but i felt it needed to be separated. the reason for the delay is because it was written like it was still part of chapter 28 so i fixed up the beginning a bit. hope you guys like it.- End of Note-


	30. Chapter 30: Indigo City

i woke up in a small house dimly lit with only torches. i looked around and rubbed my head. i tried to get up and out of the bed but my legs were numb. i looked down to see they were a horrible shade of purple and blue.

"ah you're up lad" said a voice entering the room. "they was for sure you were dead out there but i could see the fire in your heart, you weren't going to let some blizzard kill you now were you."

i looked at the pony. he had a fur vest on and a large brown beard. he had shaggy hair and had a scar over his eye. the eye that was scarred was blind. he looked like some kind of viking.

"where am i."

"well you're in indigo city my boy." he said. he had a real hearty voice. "me and my companions went out hunting' and kroger tripped over your frozen body. the others thought you were dead because you were so stiff but you were just frozen."

"ugh i can't feel my legs" i said rubbing them, they were cold to the touch.

"ah, well yes we haven't finished defrosting ya'" he said. he walked away and came back with a sack. he put the sack on my legs and they warmed up. it was the greatest thing i've felt all day.

"why did you help me." i asked

"well i don't know where you're from but this village is peaceful, despite the civil war between us and the red dawn."

"thank you." i said.

"so do you have a name." said the other pony sitting down on a chair and throwing a log onto a fire "damn fire won't stay lit." he said.

i looked around and saw my bag sitting next to the bed. i reached in and pulled out the potion of infinite burning. i twiddled with the cork but my hooves were still a bit numb.

"my name is shadow runner." i said

"what kind of foolish mother names her son that." i could already tell that wasn't a normal name. "where are you from anyway."

"equestria."

"then what are you doing here." he said changing his voice to a more hostile one.

"i'm running away from the law over there... i was accused of murder and i escaped from the prison after collapsing the castle in canterlot." the other pony burst out laughing and fell to the floor.

"oh you're alright with me lad... you're alright with me." he said.

"her put this on the fire" i said handing him the potion.

"what's this" he said still chuckling to himself

"just do it." i said he popped the cork and poured the entire bottle on the fire. the fire lit up and burned viciously. he jumped back in amazement.

"well i'll be damned the lad is magic too." he said he turned to me. "you are a strange one aren't you. you come in here, flying first of all which don't happen around here too often... and now you're magic, only the court wizards use magic."

"this definitely is a strange place." i said. i put my hooves on the bag that rested on my legs so that they could warm up too. we talked for awhile and i started to feel better. i finally got feeling back in my legs and i stood up. i stretched out my wings and put them back to my side.

"ah there we go feeling better already."

"thank you." i said.

"think nothing of it we have plenty of room and you're welcome to this room as long as you need."

"i haven't seen generosity like this in a long, long time."

"well then you have been living in the wrong place... shadow runner is it"

"just call me shadow." i said

"alright then shadow... i am hrothar. son of hromall and husband of miska."

"sounds like a nice family."

"ah yes and we are expecting a child soon as well."

"congratulations."

"come i shall introduce you to the wife she is dying to meet you." she guided me through the door and into a large den area with a table and another mare. she had long blonde hair and brown fur. she was also quite obviously pregnant as well.

the house was larger than i had thought. there was an upstairs and a few more rooms. there was a large fire pit and a pot of food over it. i don't think that tonights meal is going to include cupcakes or muffins.

"miska... miska the guest is ready to meet you." he said walking over to his wife and hugging her.

"oh let me get a good look at him" she said walking over to me. she grabbed my arm and felt my muscles and looked me over. she grabbed one of my wings and pulled it out. i flapped my wings because they were a bit raw from the cold. she stepped back and a few feathers went over the room.

"sorry" i said.

"oh he's a keeper." she said. "he's lean and muscular, and he's got wings too, very rare." she said. she walked back over and put her ear to my chest. i looked down in confusion. "oh he has a strong heart too but loving."

"i know... that's why i didn't believe he was dead." said hrothar.

"i hope you're hungry we made some nice carrot soup and a few sweet rolls." miska said.

" thank you... you are kind ponies."

"oh don't you worry your pretty little head we get by."

"and if you need money we can give you a few silver pieces."

"does your city take bits as a currency." i said walking over to the table.

"that depends... what are bits."

"gold pieces."

"oh hahaha my boy you're doing better than us already." he said "only the ponies that live in the inner city can save enough to make gold. we can just get by with a few silver pieces."

"how does the currency work here." i asked sitting down and looking at the food in front of me.

"here is how it is" he said sitting down. "there are three levels of the city, inner outer and darktown." the inner city houses the palace and all the rich ponies live there. we live in the outer city. that means we're average ponies with jobs and problems...then there's darktown. a sub level of the city just outside the gate is the pathway...its just a large cavern under the city populated by criminals and scum."

"so about the money."

"well there are gold pieces... if a family gets a gold piece in the outer city then they are set for at least a year... the inner city ponies blow through the stuff like they do food. under gold pieces there are silver pieces. it takes 50 silver to trade for a gold piece."

"is there anything under that."

"no but people out here are mostly homesteaders so they trade crops with each other if they don't have money."

"i hope that sorted you out."

"yeah i think i get it."

"good good now eat boy eat." i looked at my food again. it looked gritty but i was starving. i took a sip and it was so delicious. i was so used to eating sweets that this was just on an entirely new level. i wolfed down my food and then i ate some of the surrounding food like cheese and bread and stuff.

i was finally full. and hrothar laughed. his wife just smiled

"the boys stomach is bigger than his head... oh you're parents must be proud... how have you not found a wife yet my boy."

"well i was sweet on a girl in equestria... but i had to leave."

"oh that's so sad." said miska.

"i'm sorry lad... but you're in a better place now trust me."

"thank you for the wonderful meal miska, it is absolutely nothing like i have had in awhile. i almost forgot what good food tasted like."

"thank you dearie."

"hold on here." i said . i walked into my room and searched through my bag. i pulled out a smaller bag and filled it with about 100 bits. i walked back inside and placed the bag on the table "here i want you to have this and don't tell me you can't expect this because i won't believe it." i said sliding the bag over to them.

"your very kind." said miska. she opened the bag and looked inside. i could feel her heart stop from here. she clasped her chest and a huge smile spread across her face. "oh my god... hrothar...hrothar look." she held the bag up to hrothar. he burst out laughing heartier than ever before.

"oh boy you have made us so happy." hrothar said. he picked up his wife and gave her a big kiss. he ran over and picked me up too. he shook me around and gave me a kiss on the cheek too. i could only laugh and smile.

he and his wife danced around for a while and pulled me in with them. we danced and celebrated for a long time. about half an hour. felt like a long time though.

"how can you just do this." said miska.

"i've been asked that alot lately... think nothing of it... i owe you're husband my life and i'm repaying the debt and for the room as well. besides if gold is worth as much as you say then i could live in the inner circle..."

"oh my boy then that is where we are going tomorrow... we are going to find you a place in the inner city."

"how are the ponies like up there."

"i would have to guess snobby and snooty but you can slap some sense into them."

"i would rather stay in the outer circle with friends than snobs."

"that is right good sense there." he said pulling me into him.

"alright the two of ya' it's late and you have yet to hunt something. hrothar."

"what do you hunt hrothar." i thought surely they can't hunt them for meat.

" i hunt animals for clothing and bedding. we throw the meat to the wolves. but miska is right we can save the celebrations for tomorrow... it is late off to bed." he said. he let go of me and i walked over to my bedroom. "have a well night lad."

"and a well night to you hrothar." i said walking into my room and closing the door. i crawled into my bed and laid down. it was the most comfortable bed i've ever been in. i didn't need any covers because the warmth of the fire was already. i didn't even fall to sleep slowly i was out like a light.

but that night i had a different dream. i dreamed that i was next to rainbow dash at the hospital. she was in the bed and i was sitting next to her. she was crying. i went to see what was wrong when i noticed something. on a tray on the other side of the room was a pile of blood and tissue. i closer look saw it to be a dead horse child. it took only a second to figure that it was my child. i couldn't help but not cry.

i cried with dash and we sat there for hours. she looked at me and stopped crying.

"if only you were there." she said.

i didn't know what that meant but i looked down and saw a giant hand made of shadows split open her stomach and reach out. the hand pulled the body over and eventually there was a giant demon in front of me... it wasn't mine however.

it grabbed me by the neck and held me up. i couldn't breath. i crushed my neck and i felt it snap. i tried to scream in pain but nothing came out. my throat and airway was closed and i couldn't breath. i kicked around as much as i could but the air deprival was getting to me.

everything started turning black and i was growing weaker and weaker by the second. i looked down to rainbow dash who laid there half dead and still crying. she looked at me and whispered.

"why... did you leave... you should... have been there for us."

i fell limp as the last of my energy ran out of my body and everything went black. i opened my eyes to see that it was only a dream. i looked forward to see hrothar standing in the doorway in pure terror. i looked around and i had my shadows flailing next to me.

my impression was that of hate and anger and soon changed to worry.

" Hrothar i...you."

"it's alright lad. i've seen my share of black magic in my day's just none so terrifying."

"i'm sorry hrothar. what time is it."

"it's the dead of night... you were making strange noises and it woke up me and miska... when i came to your door you were saying some kind of language. i opened up and you were floating with these... demon tentacles dancing around you."

"hrothar i'm... i just... Maybe i should leave."

"nonsense you can stay."

"but i..." it doesn't matter what you did, and it seemed like a personal problem but if you need to talk about it then we can talk." he said taking the seat next to the bed. i cleared my head and thought for a minute

"hrothar... why do the ponies here hate equestria."

"now the ponies here don't hate equestria... we just don't believe in the same things and that's what the azure alliance does, protect our beliefs. i personally don't mind the place, infact i've been there once. it was quite the journey but i have family there."

" i'm sure that there will be a day when i return to equestria... either a villain or a friend. no matter how though one thing's for sure. even though my enemies will change my friends will stay the same."

"sounds troubling." he said.

"i just don't know when, but i have a feeling it won't take long." i said i looked towards the fire and watched the flames dance around. "promise me that no matter what happens to me you won't put yourself before me."

****"alright now you should get back to bed lad. we have work tomorrow." he said leaving the room. he smiled and closed the door behind me. i laid back in my bed and stared at the ceiling. i closed my eyes but i didn't dream there was just darkness... i was already dead.


	31. Chapter 31: Settling In Again

i woke up the next day and crawled out of bed. i opened the door and walked into the den. miska was already making food and hrothar was putting on a fur coat

"ah you're up... mow before we go anywhere you might want to trade in a few of those gold pieces for some silver... golds a bit too much." he said. i grabbed my bags and headed back into the den.

"so what do we do first."

"well first of all you might want to get yourself some gear."

" i have armour."

"in that bag of yours."

"not exactly." i said. i used my shadows to cover my body and harden them into my spiked black armour. "see."

"thats good but it ain't going to keep you warm." he said "c'mon lets go before the blizzard sweeps in after the noon." he said. i waved goodbye to miska and we walked outside. he was right it is cold. we walked around and we got to a small building with a bag of money as a symbol. we walked in and there were a few ponies behind desks. this must be like a bank.

i walked over to the desk and the pony looked up at me.

"can i help you." she said.

"uhm yeah" i said. i reached into my bag and grabbed five bits. "i'd like to exchange these for silver pieces." i said putting them on the desk.

the mare looked surprised and told me to wait. whe walked into another room and came out a minute later with a large bag in her teeth.

"here you go sir." she said putting the bag on the desk. i grabbed it and emptied it into my bags. i gave the bag back and she took the gold pieces. me and hrothar left and walked back into town.

"that was a bit much. just one or two pieces would have done ya lad."

"sorry still new to this."

"it's fine." he said. i started shivering from the cold. "let's get you some actual armour." he said. we walked around and eventually came across a stall. it was more like a building with a huge walk up window.

"looking to buy some armour." said the guy in the window. i looked past him and saw the shields and weapons behind him. there was another pony hitting a hot sword with a hammer on the anvil. this was definitely a blacksmiths. "or something to hunt with." he said. i thought for a second.

"both." i said.

"well come on o'er round the side and we'll getcha set up." he said .

i walked over to the other side and walked in. hrothar stayed outside. he waved goodbye and headed out.

"just come back to my place when you are done." he said

i walked into the store and looked around. there were weapons and armour everywhere.

"just take your pick sonny." he said.

"i need something that is going to keep me warm but it needs to be strong too, and light."

"then i have just the thing for you." he said. he walked over to a cloth hanging over something. he pulled the cloth out and sitting there was the most interesting piece of armour i have ever seen. it looked like a dragon. the boots and chest plate were scaley and boney too. it had a torn cape on it and it had a dragons skull for a helmet. it was the coolest thing i have ever seen.

"now this ain't cheap." he said

"and i ain't poor." i said. "how much."

"twenty gold." he said. that was nothing compared to how much i had "this armour is near indestructible, it's fur lined on the inside, it's fireproof, and light as a feather."

"i'll take it." i said. i reached into my bag and grabbed twenty bits. i gave them to him. he seemed very surprised that i just gave the money to him like that. i walked over and grabbed the armour. i put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. i had everything on except for the helmet.

i looked like on BADASS MOTHERFUCKER. i looked at the helmet and i put it on. it was sick. i could see perfectly through it. i just needed a weapon now. i noticed that everypony in this city had a weapon. even hrothar was trying to hide his axe from me, but i saw it.

"now i need a sword, nothing heavy."

"there is a sword that goes well with that." he brought me over to a sword on a display case. it had a gold plated hilt that was shaped in the form of a dragon. the blade was folded steel. and it was perfect. i bought it from him for 5 gold and i was set. i walked through town and noticed my bag was weighing me down.

i got to a tailor and traded it in for a utility belt. i had my belt ready at me side. i put my money in an infinity pouch i had with me and put it on the side. i had a few potions dangling from it as well. i also had a knife that i brought with me. i was good.

i walked through the town and noticed that i was completely lost. i walked around and past a group of mercenary looking ponies. one of them stopped me.

"hey you... who do you think you are walking in here like that."

"like what." i asked so sure that if there was a fight i would kill them all.

"like that. you think you're some kind of big shot or something... i don't think i've even seen your face around here." he said trying to look through my helmet. "who are you."

"i am who i am." i said and i walked away. i could hear the sound of a sheath and there was a thud against my back. i looked back and saw that the pony had stricken me with his sword. i cracked and shattered. it fell to the ground and he froze. i wasn't even going to use my sword for this. as a matter of fact it was just going to be an accessory.

i looked at him and i brought a few shadows over to my side. they rose above the ground and towered over everypony. all the villagers that were watching before were definitely watching harder than before.

"oh fuck..." he said trying to back up but falling to the ground. "what are you." he said trying to crawl away.

"i am what i am." i said. i raised on shadow up and with one clean strike i cut off one of his arms. it fell to the ground and he did too. he screamed in pain as he clutched his wound trying to get it to stop bleeding. i walked over and i spread my wings out. they too were covered in armour.

i looked over the pathetic pony who had tried to attack me. he was sniveling on the ground like a coward. he had tears in his eyes and he was bleeding everywhere. i was sure that if i left him there he would die... oh well his problem, i'm not going to let this place push me around.

i looked over at the other ponies who watched the duel just unfold. a few uniformed ponies came over and walked up to us. great i'm already in trouble. i waited for them to take me but they walked past me and picked up the other guy.

"wait i'm not in trouble." i said.

"of course not." said one of the guards. "he attacked you first. we saw the whole thing you're fine, just be more careful and take care." he said as they dragged him away. i liked this town already. i continued on my way and everypony else looked away as if it never happened. i walked around until i came to a familiar house.

this was probably it. i opened up and walked inside. i saw miska, hrothar, and somepony else. i walked in and cleared my throat so they could see me.

"what do you want" said hrothar. pulling out and ax. he probably didn't recognize me.

"wait hrothar it's me." i said pulling of my helmet.

"ah it is you... you've already got the armour of a warrior. and the sword of one as well i see. that's good." he said. he nudged his friend next to him. his friend had brown hair and a light orange coat. "ah told ya croger... ain't he something."

"he sure is." said kroger walking over and looking at me. he looked at me and stopped for a second. "this armour already has blood on it." he said.

the others stood up when they heard this.

"oh yeah somepony tried to kill me but my armour stopped the blow."

"and you cut his head off." asked kroger.

"no... no i didn't" that was a bit of an assumption. "i chopped his arm off."

"but you're blade hasn't seen the blood of battle yet." he said looking at my sword.

"well i used my... how you ponies call it... black magic."

"the boy is magic too... and he can fly." he said. "and you so generously gave my friend hrothar here 100 gold pieces. it's about time somepony like you has showed their face in this ugly town."

"don't overwhelm the boy kroger." said hrothar standing up again and walking over. "we still have a bit of hunting to do before the blizzard gets here."

"alright... boy you know how to hunt." said kroger turning back to me.

"i know how to kill." i said.

"good enough lad." said hrothar putting on his armour and getting his ax. "c'mon lads lets go hunt us some game." he said and we all left through the door. we left the city and wandered into the woods. we walked around for a few minutes without seeing anything.

suddenly i sensed something.

"shhh." i said "wait i hear something."

kroger and hrothar stopped dead silent. i walked forward. i was completely light on my feet, dead silent i didn't even leave tracks. i saw something move in the bushes and i peered through. i saw a manticore.

"do we hunt manticore." i said in confusion. kroger and hrothar seemed confused. i'll take that as a yes. i slowly drew my sword and looked back. i smiled and disappeared into the shadows. kroger stepped back and so did hrothar. i slowly made my way past the shrub and jumped out at the manticore. i stabbed my sword into his back and he started lashing out in fury.

his tail lashed at me several times but kept hitting my armour. he wiped me around and bucked back and forth but i held onto the sword for dear life. he barreled past the bushes and ran over my two friends. kroger got up and shot a few arrows at the beast. only a one managed to hit the beast. the other just hit me. one even stuck me were my armour doesn't cover my flank.

i yelled in pain and lashed a few spikes of shadow from the ground and they stuck into the manticore. the beast slowed down as the shadows dissipated and it dropped to the ground. i jumped off and fell to the ground. i started breathing rapidly as i tried to catch my breath.

i grabbed my sword and pulled it from the beast. this manticore was one of the biggest i've seen and i've only seen two others. i looked over and hrothar and kroger rush over out of breath.

"damn son..." said kroger taking deep breaths. "you got the spirit in ya all give you that."

"ain't never seen them in a while. thought they was gone."

"guess not." i said kicking it. twitched a bit and growled. i don't think it was dead.

"this is you're kill son you finish it off" said hrothar.

i grabbed my sword and put it back in my sheath. i grabbed my knife and held it in my teeth. i lined it up with the jugular and stabbed the manticore in the neck. he lashed out and flailed a bit before he went limp. i did it my first hunt.

"now lets get this sonofabitch home." said hrothar. "you wanna be the one to show it off." he asked me.

"sure." i said... wrong answer. i tied the beast to me with some rope and dragged it all the way back to the outer city. it was killer on my back. kroger and hrothar just walked in front of me and laughed and talked about something. i manticore slung over my back had started to bleed all over me and i was trailing the stuff.

"don't worry there lad it's only a few more blocks." i lost my mind and freaked. i used my shadows to tear the corpse from my body and threw it down the street. it landed and slid almost taking out a few ponies. the shadows had started to collect at my feet and travel up my body. i spread my wings and flew. i dove up and dived right back down on the body.

i grabbed it again and threw it once more to hrothar's doorstep. miska opened the door and looked at the furry and bloody mass a t the doorway. she pulled back in surprise. i flew into the air and dived down on the large beast. i landed with a thud. and started stomping on it while kroger and hrothar came ove.

"fucking piece of shit animal fucking... weighing so much... give me a crick in the neck... break my fucking back... AND I'VE STILL GOT THIS ARROW IN MY FLANK... THANK YOU VERY MUCH KROGER" i yelled as the two of them approached. they just started laughing.

"here let me help you with that." said kroger. i bed the arrow with my teeth and ripped it out of my flank. i threw it to the ground and hopped off of the manticore. "or not." he said laughing again. "i like this friend of yours hrothar he has spirit. i'll give him that but he's short tempered."

" i don't have a short temper i just have a quick reaction to bullshit." i said kicking the beast again. "so where are we putting this." i asked.

"round back, we gotta skin it and debone it." said kroger.

"RAAAHH." i yelled and threw the body over the house and into the back. i lept into the air did a flip and landed into the back yard. i picked up the corpse and used my shadows to skin it. i threw the perfectly torn fur pelt to the ground and started ripping off chunks of meat. i threw them to the ground. i have no idea why i was so angry.

hrothar and kroger came around and started putting the flash and organs into a few buckets. soon it started to snow. i ripped out a few bones and threw them aside and continued to rip away at the muscle and tissue.

the blizzard picked up and it was snowing heavily now. i finished ripping the skull from the muscle and brain and set it aside. we packed up the meat and headed inside. we needed to let the bones stay out and dry. well they headed inside. i stood out in the snow to try and cool off.

it felt good. i took off my armour and threw it inside and closed the door. i fell down and landed in the already piled up snow. i laid down and let the snow cover me until i couldn't feel my body. i got up and shook off the snow. i headed inside and grabbed my armour. i walked in and threw it in my room. i joined the others at the dinner table.

"feeling better are we." said miska

"yeah i just needed to cool off. i'm sorry i snapped like that."

"don't worry about it," said hrothar. "it was funny" kroger got up and headed to the door.

"i should be getting home before this storm becomes too thick."

"take care kroger." said miska.

"i' will see you tomorrow friend." said hrothar.

"seeya." i said waving goodbye. he closed the door behind him and i sat down on one of the dinner seats which really was just a log of wood. before we could sit down and eat there was a knock on the door. "i'll get that." i said.

i walked over and opened the door. standing there was a unicorn in fancy gilded robes and a shield above him to protect him from the storm.

"i have a letter for you." he said.

"wait how do you know it's for me."

"because it's written to you... i don't normally do this but on the basis of who it is written by i've made the exception and will gladly send a return letter... may i come in."

"well uhm..." i looked to hrothar.

"are you daft boy. that's the castle mage... let him in for christs sake." he said.

"oh i'm sorry please do come in."

"thank you." he said.

"oh mage starblaze... is there anything i can get you sir..." said miska.

"a cup of tea would be lovely... now as for you." he said turning his attention to me. "i believe you have some interesting history in equestria and have already made a bit of a title for yourself in indigo city already."

"i guess you can say that... yes." i said opening the letter the letter read.

"dear crimson blast. the situation regarding luna has been taken care of and i have publicly explained the issue to all of equestria. you have been pardoned of all you're crimes and we would hope that you return to equestria, and back to your friends and family... we are not sure where you are so we have scattered this letter across the world outside of equestria... please come back, everypony misses you and we are sorry. love princess celestia."

reading that note made me enraged. i became so frustrated my eyes glowed black and the note burst into flames right in my hooves. the mage raised an eyebrow at this. i seemed down and collected my thoughts.

"can you wait a few minutes i need a bit of time to write a return letter."

"of course." he said. i walked away and into my room. i grabbed and inkwell and feather. i started writing. i wanted the princess to know how i felt. my note read.

"dear celestia... thank you, i would love to return to my friends and family. but i'm not going to. i've already started a new life, and i'm happy here. i am writing this to tell you that you screwed up... royaly. this is not something that can be undone. you can't fix this just because you want to. i hope you carry on and tell my friends i love them. and my name isn't crimson blast... it's shadow runner... take care celestia and goodbye."

i finished the note and put it in an envelope. i licked the slip and closed it. i walked out of the room. i saw the mage sitting and having some tea. he was talkig with hrothar and miska.

"ah... ready for me to send that." he said.

"yes... and thank you for taking the time to do this."

"not a problem... it's always good to get out of the inner circle every now and then... that place is too uptight for me." he said. he levitated the letter over and in a flash it was gone. "there we go."

"come by anytime" said miska.

"thank you... miska and hrothar." he said. he walked out the door and closed it behind him. hrothar ran over and picked me up.

"boy you're just full of good luck ain't ya." h said laughing his loveable hearty laugh.

"please let go of me." i said.

"are you alright boy." he said letting me go.

"no i'm not... i... i'd just like to be alone please."

"alright but you get some rest... tomorrow we should find you a nice place to stay."

"alright... thank you." i said i walked into the room and closed the door. i fell onto the bed and drifted off into a deep sleep. i didn't know what to think but this was my new life now and i should be happy.

i tried to smile but i couldn't


	32. Chapter 32: In Your Eye's

- IMPORTANT READ FIRST-

- the following chapter is portrayed through the eyes of rainbow dash at the present time of the previous chapter. this chapter is optional because it contains information that may spoil the story line. if you don't mind then read on... but if you don't want to spoil the story then wait until the information is revealed later in the story and come back to this chapter.-

it has been almost a month since crimson left. i've been so depressed ever since. i could barely pull myself out of bed every day. and it's hard to do so without any encouragement. especially when the only pony who can get to your house is fluttershy and she's depressed as well.

i have been taking care of scootaloo though. the only day i did get out of bed was to go take care of scoots. she is a wreck. we all are. the only thing she does is cry all the time. i let her sleep with me in crimsons bed. that's usually where i am all the time at his old house.

i've been staying there so i can take care of scoots. we tried sending scootaloo back to school several times and she almost made it one day without crying but she can't hold it in. i don't touch anything in his house that reminds me of him. and i'm afraid that he is really gone for good.

twilight is up at all hours of the day and night trying to find him but he ran away pretty good. applejack stays at her farm and bucks apples. she doesn't cry in front of anypony but big man told me she cries herself to sleep every night.

pinkie pie has gone completely crazy. she has replaced her love of crimson with her love to bake... and that's all she ever does is bake food for everypony. the cakes actually had to start dropping prices to about 1 bit for every four cakes so they don't overstock.

and nopony has seen rarity in ever. sweetie belle says that she is in denial and can hear her talking to herself. pretending to be crimson. usually when she doesn't do that she's either sleeping or eating. fluttershy is so sad that she had completely forgotten about her animals.

a few of them had died and the rest have run away to the everfree forest which made her even worse. at least her bunny angel didn't run away. but i'm the worse. i can't bare to hide my condition any more and i think ponies are catching on.

it's been almost a month since he left and i'm already two months pregnant. i've already had a few cravings and i'm starting to show. i think twilight and applejack caught on. but i haven't even seen the others. things were miserable at first but we manage and al the ponies have started to settle down.

i'm even sure that anypony who had laid eyes on crimson is in mourning. even the princess.

i don't know what's happening but i'm scared. my friends are in mourning. scootaloo has fallen into the worst depression i've ever seen. and i'm pregnant and i'm afraid crimson may not ever come back to see his child.

i couldn't help but start to cry myself to sleep... like i do every night. scootaloo came up stairs and laid next to me. she started crying too and i pulled her close to me. we both fell to sleep together.

i woke up the next morning and saw scootaloo sleeping next to me. i got out af the bed and decided to make something to eat. i walked to the kitchen but there was a knock at the door. i opened it and i saw twilight.

"hey twilight..."

"hey dash... i just wanted...to...to" she was hysterical. she burst out into tears and leaned over my shoulder.

"he's not coming back dash... i can't find him anywhere... i... i failed everypony." she said. i hugged her and started to cry as well.

"everything is going to be alright twilight."

"no everything is not going to be alright... everypony is either depressed or insane and ponyville is falling apart... and this must be worse on you dash since your... you know." she said darting her eyes at my stomach and at my face. oh no she knew.

"you do know then."

"yes dash... i know." i couldn't help but break down and cry. i fell to the ground and burst out into tears. twilight bent down and tried to comfort me. everything was falling apart. i don't know what to do. i'm scared.

"i'm so scared twilight... i don't know what to do... i can't raise a kid by myself. i'm not ready for this... please twilight do something."

"there isn't anything i can do... unless you want to... abort."

"no... no no no." i just heard of the idea and i already hated it. "no way in hell that is happening... i want this child but i'm afraid that i won't be able to keep it... i can barely take care of scootaloo."

"it's alright rainbow dash... we will figure it out."

i started to calm down but i was still afraid and sad. i was lonely and scared without crimson.

"why did this have to happen."

****"i don't know rainbow... but i'm going to do everything in my power to find crimson... and when i do... i will bring him back whether or not he want's to come back."


	33. Chapter 33: Making It Right

it's been a week since i first came to indigo city. hrothar and miska have helped me settle in. i bought a plot of land down the street from them and after a few days of hard work i had built myself a homestead. it wasn't a big thing. just enough land to grow a few crops for myself and some left over to sell at the market.

the thing about farming in indigo city is that you need luck on your side. i mostly grow potatoes and carrots. today is my first harvest. other than that nothing else has happened. i was properly introduced to kroger and his family.

i met his wife talia and his son thorval. they were a nice couple. all the ponies in this city were nice. i haven't heard word from equestria since i sent the letter. i had almost forgotten about my life before this... i was just a simple farmer now. that's all.

i walked outside and took a nice whiff of the air... it was fresh and crisp. today was going to be a good day. i walked over to my garden and started pulling up carrots and potatoes. i had filled my entire cart with them. that was a good haul.

i put a few carrots and potatoes into a basket and brought them inside. i grabbed my cart and wheeled it all the way to the market. i spent the rest of the day selling my harves. at the end of the day i had made 26 silver pieces and i had some food left over. tomorrow i'm going to plant more seed and then within a month i can sell again.

i walked inside and made myself some apple and cabbage stew. it was my favorite. i learned a trick from miska about preserving stew. if you keep the pot just high enough above the fire then i won't go cold and stay warm and not burn.

i poured myself a bowl and sat down at my table. i ate my food and had seconds. i scarfed down my seconds as well and decided to have another bowl. before i knew it i had devoured half the pot. i was stuffed.

i mosied my way upstairs and into my room. popped down in my bed and laid my head on the pillow. i fell to sleep. i didn't have any dreams that night.

i woke up the next morning and went down stairs. miska had given me a few sweet rolls and her recipe. i had one of them for breakfast and a bit of ale. i woke myself up and grabbed the bag of seeds that i bought.

i walked out and spent the next hour or so planting my crops. i poured some miracle grow that i whipped up on the ground to ensure they wouldn't die in the cold.

now it was time for me to go hunting with hrothar and kroger. we met up at the entrance and we headed out. we caught three deer. one for each of us. after about a few hours we skinned them and i ground the bones into bone meal. good for the crops.

i went to the tanner and had him tan the hide. i carried it back home and placed it in front of my door. i now had a little rug in the den. my house was rustic and cozy. there were pots and pans strewn everywhere.

animal heads hanging on the walls and pelts. i kept my sword in a holder above the fireplace and my armour on a stand in the corner. i had bought a lighter pair of armour for hunting and other stuff.

i kept a chest on the other side of the room and i had it locked. i had the key hidden in my house. all the rooms were dimly lit and the only light came from windows or the fire. i kept torches lit around the house too. it was quaint. sort of a homey feeling. i went outside to put some of the bone meal on the crops. after that i headed inside and went to wash up.

now there weren't any showers. when hrothar told me that he had a bucket and brush i thought it was some kind of acronym but he literally meant it. when i walked up there was a giant half of a barrel filled with lukewarm water, soap, and a brush.

it was a bit different but it works. so i went upstairs and cleaned up. i washed my hair and my coat and dried off by the fire. when i was all dry i went to my room and snuggled into bed. i closed my eyes and went to sleep.

my life continued like that for a while. about two or three weeks. it was nice to feel normal for a while. every day i would tend to my crops and hunt with hrothar and kroger. and this continued. i had fun and almost completely forgot about my past life.

then one day i was out harvesting my crops when i heard a knock at the door. i went through the back door and into the den. there was another knock and i swung the door open... my heart almost stopped. standing at the door was twilight sparkle.

every question that could possibly apply to this situation flooded my head and i almost fell down from dizziness. i stared at her trying to keep a straight face but i was in complete shock. she looked horrible, she was malnourished and dirty. she had cuts and claw marks on her.

"hello sir..." she said... she didn't know it was me. "i'm looking for a pony by the name of crimson blast." she said.

"thats a bit of a strange name." i said trying to disguise my voice... it worked pretty well.

"thats what everypony else said." she said. she was broken and limping. it hurt to see her like this.

"are you alright there... why don't you come in... i've got some apple cabbage stew cookin on the fire."

"i can't... i need to find crimson blast." she said. she started walking away. i was going to let her walk away too but when she got five feet from my house she twisted her hoof and fell to the ground in a shriek.

i walked out and grabbed her. i carried her inside and brought her over to the fire. i placed her down and i poured her some soup. she took a sip and after that she wolfed down the entire bowl. i made some good stew.

i couldn't see her like this. i had to tell her, i kept thinking to myself as i helped clean her wounds. i couldn't bare to be angry at her. she didn't do anything and she can't beat herself up like this.

"what are you doing here twilight." i said in my normal voice. she froze still. her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she stared at me. "how did you find me." i said.

i saw as tears welled up in her eye's. she flew at me and hugged me and started crying.

"you son of a bitch how could you just leave like that. do you have any idea what ponyville is like. you son... of a... bitch." she said punching me in the chest with every word. she fell on top of me and continued to cry. she buried her face in my chest and stained my coat with tears.

"i missed you too twilight."

"then are you coming back." she asked.

"i just can't come back. twilight... i just can't leave."

"oh but you could just leave ponyville... like you could just leave equestria." she said raising her voice.

"UNLIKE IN EQUESTRIA twilight this place is friendly and just... i walked outside today and i didn't have to worry about being hunted by guards and then thrown in jail."

"crimson i."

"my name isn't crimson any more... it's shadow runner... now you can either accept my hospitality for the night or you can go home now."

"but i promised dash." i pushed her off of me.

"promise... you mean like the promises i made to my friends. like how i promised scootaloo everything would be alright. or how i promised dash i would always be there for her. or how i was promised that life would only get easier but it didn't twilight... life didn't get easier IT NEVER DOES." i yelled shaking the house.

"but..."

"life will never be easy twilight sparkle... now get out of my house."

"but...but." she stammered in defeat getting up. i used my shadows to push her out of the house and into the street.

"goodbye twilight sparkle." i said closing the door. i took one step and i could hear her crying outside of my doorstep. i shouldn't have done that what was i thinking i'm such i fucking idiot.

i sighed and took a deep breath. i need to help my friends no matter how mad i am. i walked over to my dragon armour and put it on. i put on my belt and grabbed a bunch of things from the chest.

i left a note on the table telling hrothar that i was going to be gone for a while. i was not going to stay but i needed to say my goodbye's. after i prepared myself i packed a bunch of food and filled my canteen with water. i walked out of my house and into the snow.

i looked around but she wasn't there anymore. i looked down and saw hoofsteps so i followed them. i followed them through the blizzard until they came to a stop. i kept walking in the direction they were heading and i tripped. i looked back and saw a flash of purple through the snow.

it was twilight she had fallen. i walked over to make sure she was alright. i picked her up and she was still alright but she was frost bitten. i swung her over my back and took off into the air. the armour on my wings was keeping them warm unlike last time.

i flew for through the night and came across the cave that i once stayed in while making my journey. i put her inside and wrapped her in a pelt that i had made. it was double sided so it was all fur, good for keeping pony warm. i went out and gathered firewood and made a fire.

i pushed her close to it to warm her up. she was still out like a light. i poured some potion of infinite burning on the fire and put some food in front of her. i sat down on a rock and stared into the fire. twilight's eyes slowly opened and i looked at her.

she rubbed her head and looked around. she shivered and cuddled up in the blanket. she looked at the food in front of her face and she dug right in. she finished it off and then noticed me. she dropped everything and smiled.

"does this mean you're coming back."

"no, this means that you're going to survive the journey back. i can bring you across the barrier but i know you can teleport from there."

"but...but."

"twilight i'm done... i can't be the hero anymore, i just want a simple life." i looked into her eyes. she finally was going to admit defeat.

"so you're really not coming back."

"no twilight... i'm not."

"alright... i just hope you know how many ponies are suffering because you have left..."

"you say suffering but i don't think you know what it means."

"most of us can recover eventually but what about rainbow dash... do you even know."

"know what."

"rainbow dash is... she's... SHE'S PREGNANT." yelled twilight. those words hit me in the heart like a thousand tons of bricks. i literally thought i just heard my heart break. i could feel tears in my eyes.

i didn't want to face twilight like this so i disappeared and went out into the cold snow. i sat out there and thought while twilight was inside by the fire. i closed my eyes and thought. eventually i went to sleep. i couldn't do this.

like i told twilight, life is never easy it only gets harder. i had a new plan. i'm going to make this right even if it kills me. and it just might. i kept thinking to myself as i fell asleep in the blizzard.

the next morning i woke up covered in snow. my armour kept me warm and i got up shaking off the snow. i walked into the cave to see twilight. i'm sure we can make the rest of the journey from here in a day.

"get up twilight sparkle." i said in a serious voice. she got up and rubbed her eyes. i kicked over the fire and it went out. i collected the gear and i head out. "keep up and we can make the barrier by nightfall."

"are you sure." she said. i didn't answer. i kept walking. she caught up with me and we made our way down the mountain side. by the time we cleared the mountains and we got into the forest area it was just past noon. and we kept walking.

we never said anything to each other. except for the times that twilight asked me questions like, what was i wearing, where did i get that sword, and she continually asked me why i won't come back.

i looked back at her and she started shivering. i opened up my bag and pulled out my fur armour. i gave it to her and she put it on. she immediately stopped shivering and was warm. the stuff works.

we walked a bit longer and i stopped us. i gave her a sealed bowl. she opened it and there was some soup in it. she snarfed it down and i ate my own. it was my favorite.

"what is this stuff." she said.

"it's my favorite... apple cabbage stew." i said. she looked disgusted at the name but she kept eating. we finished the food and i put the bowls away and we kept walking. eventually the storm picked up but just as quick as it arrived it was gone. we got into the thick of the forest and we had to fight off a few bears. nopony was hurt but all the bears were.

and eventually we made it to the barrier and it had just started to get dark as i predicted. i stopped and looked at twilight. she had tears in her eyes.

"will you at least walk through with me." she asked.

"no twilight. now get going you're friends will be even worse if you don't go back. now get going. and give this to rainbow dash." i said handing her my necklace. she took it and almost cried. the turned around and stared at the barrier.

she looked back at me and i looked at her. she turned back and slowly walked through the barrier and back into equestria. before she was completely in i said one last thing.

"goodbye twilight sparkle." i said. and she stopped. she wiped a few tears from her eyes.

"Goodbye crimson blast... i hope you're happy." she said and she walked all the way through the barrier. she let her horn glow bright and in a flash of purple light she was gone.

but of course i wasn't going back... my friends needed me and i'm going to help them. i ran through the barrier and i just ran. i had put a charm on my necklace. when twilight gives it to rainbow dash i will be in perfect sync with her and i will be able to tell if something is wrong... i'm going to fix this yet.

and i ran... i ran and i ran. even when it was night i just kept running until my legs gave in and i couldn't move any more. i used my wings to fly me further but i only got about another mile. then i collapsed in the middle of the road.

i felt something in my mind. i concentrated and i could sense everything happening in ponyville. twilight must have given the necklace to dash. but i sense a great depression in ponyville. twilight was right. the worst of it was coming from dash and scootaloo. i tried to get up and fly again.

i managed to get off the ground and fly. but my armour was causing my a bit of discomfort and i lost my balance and fell to the ground. i landed and there was a horrible crunch. i yelled out in pain when i realised i had just snapped my left wing. i writhed on the ground for a while and looked into my bag for a potion.

i didn't have any. i just remembered that i put my last health potion in twilight's food when we were in the cave. i laid there broken. i wanted to cry but i remembered that i was going to make everything right.

****and i smiled.


	34. Chapter 34: Welcome Back

i walked for the last three days and eventually i made my way to a city. it was about time. though because of my armour and my weapon that i still had on me people turned away and feared me. although it wasn't illegal it was frowned upon. i don't care though, these ponies don't even know me.

i recognized the city as las pegasus. i walked over to the train station but they refused to sell me a ticket because of my gear. i sighed and continued. i walked away from the train station and ventured through las pegasus.

i made it out of las pegasus and into the desert. it took me two days to cross the desert and i had drank all of my water. luckily manehattan was only two hours from the desert.

after a while the desert soon cleared and i was in a grassy field. i climbed on top of the hills and i could see light in the distance over the night sky. that must be manehattan. i continued and after an hour i reached the city. once again ponies looked away from me and i found a nice alley way to sleep in.

i was about to go to sleep but i was over encumbered with an overwhelming sense of dread coming from ponyville. i started to break out in a sweat and i felt like i was going to puke. there were all sorts of feelings. confusion, anger hatred... death.

something was wrong, seriously wrong... there was mistrust... dishonesty...hatred...schadenfreude...greed...and despair. something was definitely wrong. i closed my eyes and tried to see what was happening but all i could see was a great evil. and the princess she was not well.

i had to move. i burst out of the alley way and ran into the streets i ran as hard as i could. i ran and i ran for two days straight fueled only by my love for my friends. every step i took was another memory and every foot was a different sin i had reflected on. every breath was the answer to a question i had gotten wrong.

just when i thought i couldn't run any more i finally got there. i was at ponyville... but it was more than just a few troubles ailing this town it was that of nothing like i've ever seen.

i stared in awe at the checkerboard hills and the soapy roads. the upside down houses and the interchanging day. there were pink clouds raining what looked like... chocolate milk? and the animals were disfigured. there were buffalo dancing in the street and everything was in chaos.

i took one step and there was a flash of smoke and a large dragon looking thing stepped in front of me floating. he had the head of a pony the body of a dragon and the rest was a bunch of different animals.

he laughed hysterically and slithered around me. he must be the one doing this i could already tell.

"oh what do we have here." he said. "a new visitor to my little town."

"you must not know who i am."

"oh but i do alex." he said rubbing a finger under my chin. i haven't heard that name in almost a year. he definitely was something different. "and must i say what a touching story that you have made for yourself... and thank you."

"thank you for what."

"well if you hadn't left and broke the hearts in ponyville those troublesome six ponies would be out hunting the elements of harmony and i wouldn't be having so much fun."

"i will destroy you." i said gathering my shadows. my black eyes glowed through my helmet.

"oh what fun i love to see you like this." he said "have fun." he said. i swung at him with my sword but he was gone. i put my sword back but kept my shadows at my side. i walked down to ponyville. i moved past the chaos and wreckage and eventually i was at twilight's tree. i walked over and opened the door.

i saw twilight she was not her purple colorful self. she was grey and depressed. she was sitting next to spike and in front of her was a pile of notes and letters. they all had the princess's seal. i don't think she has seen me yet.

"c'mon twilight i spent all day coughing those up yesterday... at least read a few of them." said spike.

"it's no use spike... even if we defeat discord which is not going to happen... we'll just go back to being miserable."

"i miss him too twilight."

"i know spike that's why we're leaving ponyville as well... we can stay with crimson and tell him what has happened i'm sure he would understand."

"we're leaving equestria but why."

"because it is doomed... now go pack you bags spike" she said.

"alright." he said. he turned around and saw me. he froze up in both fear and awe. "twilight." he said.

"no buts spike go pack we're leaving tomorrow... the others are already lost we can't take them with us."

"but twilight." spike said.

"no buts spike we are leaving and that's final."

"leaving so soon." i said walking forward.i spread out my wings... i'm sure they had healed but they still ached a bit. i saw twilight slowly turn around with tears in her eyes. "hey twilight."

i watched as the color slowly returned to her body and she was herself again. she smiled and tried to dry her tears.

"you didn't think i would let down my friends now did you."

she started crying and hugged me. she let go because i was wearing my armour and it was jabbing her.

"we can cry later twilight i'm here to fix everything."

"how do you expect to do that..." she asked

"i'm not sure... he said something about the elements of harmony. i expected you would have something to do with that."

"the elements of harmony are the most powerful weapon in all of equestria. they're the only things that can defeat discord."

"and is he the dragon guy that stopped and mocked me on my way here." i asked walking over to the window.

"he's a draconequus." said twilight. "he is the lord of disharmony and chaos."

"alright twilight you stay here and figure out where the elements might be. i'm going to find my friends." i said. i burst out the door and ran off into town. there was one place i had to check first. i ran all the way to my house. when i got there i was shocked. it was untouched. completely normal.

but it was deathly silent. the grass had grown to be as tall as me and the house was dirty and broken. it looked completely abandoned. i walked over and pushed on the door. as it slowly creaked open i was greeted by nothing but sorrow and the crushed dust that used to be hope.

i walked into the living room and saw a thin strip of light flickering through the window. i followed it to the ground where i found my necklace torn and covered in blood. this wasn't good. i looked over and there was a trail of blood following all the way upstairs. there was no smell of death in the air... but pain.

i followed the trail up the stairs and into my room. i stood at the door and i heard faint crying from two ponies. i opened the door but there was nopony in the room. the crying stopped and the room lit up. the trail of blood led the the bed and there was a huge stain on the mattress. the satin looked old. maybe a few days.

i heard something crash downstairs and i left the room. i slowly made my way down to the bottom of the stairs. i looked over to see that the cross part of my necklace was no longer on the ground. i looked around but there was nopony there.

i walked down and i took off my armour. i set it down on the ground and i sat on the couch. i put my hooves over my eyes and started to cry. but there was no time for that. i had friends that needed my help. and i'll be damned if this is the end .

i walked over to the door. there was something wrong here and i didn't have the courage to face it yet. i left the house and let the door creak closed behind me. i could hear crying again and i left.

i walked back into town and looked around. i eventually found rarity's house. it was lit up but i looked inside through a window and there was random junk everywhere. i opened the door and looked around.

i could hear the piles of junk shifting around me and then somepony jumped on me.

"give me that." the pony said... it was colors have faded as well. i used my shadows to keep her off of me but she was swinging wildly and using her magic to take my stuff.

"rarity it's me... what are you doing."

"i want that sword" she said grabbing for my blade. i think i understood what twilight meant when she said that her friends were a lost cause. i used my powers to bind her together and i looked around for some rope. she started swearing and yelling. she wasn't herself.

if i had to guess i would have to say that discord had something to do with this. i picked her up and she thrashed wildly in her bindings but they weren't coming lose any time soon. i carried her all the way to twilight's house.

"i opened the door to see twilight's face buried in books."

"here i've got rarity." i said.

"alright i need you to get the rest so i can fix them... while you do that me and spike will look for a lead to the elements."

"alright." i said

"oh and crimson."

"yeah twilight."

"welcome back..." she said.

"thanks twi." i said rushing out of the house. i thought for a second on were the others might be. applejack is probably at her farm and fluttershy might be at her cottage. as for the others... i have no idea.

this wasn't going to be easy but it was going to be fun.

"and i'll burn in hell before i see this place fall." i thought to myself as i gathered my shadows. my powers healed my wings and i spread them out wider than before. i lept into the air and tore the ground apart beneath me. i used my shadows to cover myself in my armour and i wove a cape and hood out of darkness.

i was the only sane pony left in this place... it was me against anything that discord could throw at me.

this was going to be fun.

****-Authors Note motherfuckers: shits about to get real... ponies are going crazy, chaos reigns and all hope is lost... if you think it is over then fuck you. it is most certainly not over. crimson has had enough of this shit and he is going to kick some serious ass. until next time...-End of Note-


	35. Chapter 35: Come Out Swinging

today is the day i came into this world 1 year ago...it has been that long already and i've lost everything to my human name... infact i should be dead, but i'm not...at least not yet.

it has been one year and in that year i've grown far more powerful than ever before. i used to be a normal marine that used to get up and go to work then come back home to his loving wife and daughter.

but now i'm a demon pegasus in the world of ponies. it's a bit of a stretch i know but i regret nothing. although i fell inlove with this world it has not been kind to me.

i've been beaten tortured and slashed. i've had my heart broken on more than several occasions and i have broken the hearts of others as well. nobody said it would be easy and i don't expect it to be. i've never asked for anything to be easy, i just want it to be possible.

in the time i've been here i've battled dragons. captured and devoured the souls of demon, scaled mountains and trudged through storms and mud and i've felt the rush of battle. to make a long story short i've come along way.

but that all stopped one day when i was dragged away to the canterlot dungeon and i was beaten and humiliated under a false accusation made by the princess herself. i broke out and escaped. it took me a month to flee out of equestria and i ended up at a place just outside of the border called indigo city.

i made new friends there and i lived happily as a farmer for a few months. i was content on staying there but then i was visited by twilight sparkle who had made the journey to come and get me. ultimately i made the decision to stay at indigo city but that changed when she told me that rainbow dash ,the pegasus i've fallen in love with was pregnant with my child.

i snuck my way back in. i had planned to secretly watch over ponyville but that changed when i arrived to a world thrown into the depths of chaos and disharmony.

now i have to find my friends and then the elements of harmony. if equestria is to ever know peace again then i cannot fail or everything i've fought so hard to keep is now going to be lost. i'm not going to let that happen.

i looked over the discarded town and tried to think of where i could go first. i will have to assume that my friends are hostile at nature being corrupted by discord. the only place i could think to go right now was sweet apple acres to see if applejack is there.

i flew that way. i was there in record time and i scouted the area. surely enough she was sitting by a pile of apples. she was eating them but instead of taking bites she was putting the pieces back into the core with her mouth... it's kinda hard to explain really... it didn't make any sense.

suddenly there was a flash in front of my face and discord stood in front of me.

"oh isn't it wonderful... soon enough the whole world won't make sense."

"but if the whole world doesn't make sense wouldn't that become the norm and then not making sense would make sense." i thought. "and then making sense wouldn't make sense so it wouldn't make sense to make sense."

he didn't say anything but he burst out laughing. i was hoping to confuse him. i knew i couldn't confront him but i just had to make sure he didn't hate me and try to single me out and destroy me. he slithered around and put an arm on my shoulder.

"oh i like you." he said. he made a cup of chocolate milk appear in his hand and he drank the cup... yeah the cup. then he threw the chocolate milk behind him and it exploded in the apple tree's "it's about time that somepony learned to have fun... the rest of them just run around and scream... it's quite boring."

"uhm thanks." i said trying not to look him in the eyes.

"and as a reward i'm going to let you have this." he said. there was a flash and a bubble appeared in his hands. in the bubble was scootaloo.

"scootaloo." i said in surprise

"daddy." she said turning around and perking up. "daddy please help me." she said.

"don't worry scootaloo it's going to be fine... give her to me." i said reaching for her.

"ah-ah-ah." he said waving his finger and pulling her away. "first a little... game shall we say." he said rolling his eyes with a smile.

"what do you want." i said.

"i want you to get me a book from twilight sparkle... when you get me the book i will return your daughter."

"first of all how can i trust you and second why can't you get the book... and why do you need a book anyway."

"twilight is using a very old and powerful spell to protect the book. it's not actually at her library it's in a different place and only she can get to it unharmed. and as for trusting me..." he laughed after the word trust. "i guess you don't really have much of a choice." i growled at him a bit.

"daddy please don't let him hurt me."

"well what is it going to be." he said. i didn't really have much of a choice.

"fine i'll get you damn book." i said.

"oh wonderful... now take your time but... if i were you i would hurry." he said and like that he was gone. i looked down to the apple field and applejack was still sitting there. i guess i should grab her first. i flew down and landed next to her.

"howdy crimson how are you did you miss us." she said calmly. wait what.

"what do you mean did i miss you i'm the one who left."

"no you're not." she said with her eyes darting back and forth. i tried talking some sense into her but she just kept telling lie after lie. i had enough with it. i used my powers to bind her and tied her legs together with a length of rope. i put two gags over her mouth so i definitely didn't have to hear her speak.

i flew over to twilight's house with applejack in ropes and i dropped her off. i opened the door and threw applejack over to twilight. rarity was tied to a chair and she was exhausted.

"i can't get this spell."

"what spell i said."

"it's a remembering spell... i used to know it but i just can't remember. i'm hoping that it will bring them back if they can remember all the fun and adventures we had together."

"alright... good luck with that i'll get the other three."

"alright but hurry." she said. i flew out and closed the door. i had to find the book next. and i think i knew where it was. i flew all the way around town until i found the place i was looking for. my old house. it made sense it was the only place untouched by all the chaos and it couldn't have become this ruined naturally in a few months.

i walked over and i tried to open the door but it was shut. it was not locked or jammed. something was keeping it closed. i pull and pulled until the doorknob flew out of the socket. i tossed it away and kicked the door down. i walked in and it was silent.

i looked around and saw that it was still the same. i walked in and i could hear screams and crying. but nopony was in here. i looked around and there was blood splattered on the walls and floor. i walked around until i noticed something.

it was the door to scootaloo's room. i walked over and looked at it. i couldn't bare to look at it but i did notice that it was different. i couldn't tell how it looked exactly the same but it felt... cold.

i reached out a hoof and opened the door. instead of her bright and colorful room was a torn and destroyed bedroom. there was blood on the walls and everything was destroyed and thrown on the ground. the bed was in pieces and the mattress torn.

the curtains looked like they were attacked by an animal. the small rips let a bit of light through and the light danced around the room as the breeze from the open window blew the torn curtains.

but one thing stood out over everything. it was a picture on the floor. it was perfectly intact. it was a picture of me and scootaloo and rainbow dash as well. i don't ever remember taking this picture. it made me angry. i smashed it and the room faded to black.

there was a loud sound like tears hitting the floor. like rain hitting a metal sheet and echoing through my body. it stopped and everything turned back to normal. i looked around and my house was no longer a pit of despair and destruction but it looked just like the way i left it.

i looked on scootaloo's bed and saw a book and a note. i picked up the note and it was from twilight. it read:

"dear crimson blast. i'm not sure if you'll ever get this or how long it would have been since ponyville had fallen into ruin but if you're reading this then you did it. i put an ancient protection on your house. only you could enter this place and solve the puzzle. and that's just what you did... i entrust these to you... i'm sure you'll know what to do with them... but i couldn't let discord get them... if you really are reading this then i'm glad you're back, and i'm sorry we all are, we pushed you too far and one day you left... it was our own ruin though we may not think so... we love you crimson."

the note brought me to tears and i looked at the book. i couldn't figure out what she was talking about or why this book was so important. i walked over and opened it up. and sure enough it wasn't a normal book.

it was carved out and there were five necklaces in it. and a tiara. each one resembled the cutie mark of one of my friends. then it hit me. these are the elements of harmony twilight was talking about. i picked up the book and i was filled with mixed emotions. i don't know why but i was... happy.

i was filled with joy and i smiled. these pieces of jewelry radiated power and happiness. i couldn't let discord get a hold of them. but i couldn't just take them he would figure it out and make things impossible. i thought for a second and i got an idea.

i put the elements down on a table and lit a candle next to them. i concentrated hard and the shadows they made soon grew to shape and solidified. i was getting tired from the energy it took up. i concentrated harder and they soon grew colors and thickness. and after a few grueling minutes of straining myself to concentrate it was done.

perfect replicas of the elements... without the magical power of course. though if i could feel their power he might too but i can fix that too. i walked over to the kitchen and looked in the cabinet. my collection of assorted potions was still there. and just the potion i was looking for. a potion of power.

i poured the potion on the fake elements and they absorbed the liquid. i picked it up and i could sense the power radiating from them... even though they still didn't have any magical properties it felt like they did. i put the fake ones in the book and the real ones in my bag.

i carried the book outside and i flew away to the center of town. i looked around and i saw a throne in place of town hall. and of course discord was sitting on it laughing at his chaos. i saw scootaloo cowering in fear and crying in a bubble next to him. i flew down and confronted him.

"DISCORD... i've got you damn book."

"ah wonderful my child give it here." he said reaching for it. i pulled it back though.

"i don't know discord... i've read this book and it's rather interesting... think twilight might like it." i said with a dirty look.

"oh touche." he said with a smile. "but are you sure."

"are you sure i won't take these to twilight and her friends and then destroy you and free scootaloo later." i said.

"what makes you sure i won't destroy your daughter right here and now." he said with a twisted smile.

"because you won't..." i said. "think about it discord nopony has died they're just afraid. if you wanted to destroy ponyville you would have done it already." i said with another smile.

"i think you might find that destroying me will be hard without this one." he said. he waved his hand and there was a flash another bubble appeared and in it was rainbow dash. i could see her and she was pregnant. it was showing already.

"i think we're getting somewhere." i said. i looked at dash and she stared back at me. she was absolutely speechless. she had tears in her eyes. the only way she could tell it was me was because i was using my shadows to carry my things.

"so we have a deal then." he said hovering the two bubbles closer to me.

"i'm still not sure... these are the elements we are talking about..." i said. i started to look worried. but it was all part of the act. "alright fine." i said. he popped the two bubbles around rainbow and scoots and they ran to me and hugged me tight. i threw him the book and he picked it up.

he flipped it open and laughed...he thought he had won. but i will not be defeated.

"oh daddy thank you..." said scootaloo hugging me tight. dash looked at me and gave me a kiss on the lips. it was the most romantic looking kiss i've ever had with her.

"yuck." said discord sticking out his tongue. "get a room."

"but crimson what about the elements." said dash.

"he had me at a checkmate. without you the elements are useless. at least now we can round up the rest of our friends and leave... i've got a place outside of equestria we can go to."

"happy travels." said discord doing a little dance. i glared at him with a dirty look and i picked up scootaloo. i put her on my back and me and dash flew away together. we flew all the way to twilight's house we got there and i opened the door. twilight looked over and smiled.

"ah you have rainbow dash... and she isn't corrupted. great that means less work for me"

"twilight i know about the elements and my house."

"oh you figured it out."

"yeah i did... and i'm sorry."

"i'm sorry too crimson i shouldn't-" i cut her off

"no twilight i'm sorry... discord has the elements."

"what." she said raising her voice. "how could you let him get the elements." i was lying because they were safer with me. i played discords little game and now i'm playing mine.

"he had rainbow dash... this was not personal twilight, they wouldn't have worked without her... he had us at a checkmate... there is nothing we can do."

"alright... you're right he's too good." she said. she had tears rolling down her face. "but what now."

"we can gather up the rest of our friends and live in indigo city... it's a nice place and the people are friendly."

"alright." she said hanging her head in defeat.

"i can't believe we are going out like this." said dash.

"there's nothing we can do but start off fresh in a new place."

"alright..." said twilight "i think i've almost figured out the spell but it might take a few minutes... i'll go wake up spike and tell him... dash and scootaloo can stay here and you need to go find pinkie and fluttershy."

"alright i'll be back." i said. i walked out of the house and took off. i'm sure that pinkie might be at the bakery. so that's where i headed. i flew all the way over the town and landed at the doorstep of sugarcube corner.

i opened the door and i was hit in the face with something squishy. i wiped it off my face... it was cake. i saw pinkie sitting on the counter throwing cakes at me.

"oh so now you're back." she said. throwing another cake

"pinkie stop."

"no." she said and she threw another cake. i caught it with my shadows and whipped it back at her. it hit her in the face and sent her over the counter and into the wall. while she was dazed i tied her up and gagged her. i carried her out of the store and over to twilight's.

i dropped her at the doorstep and knocked. i took off and headed to fluttershy's cottage. that was easy now just for fluttershy. this was going to be too easy. i flew over to her cottage and landed down.

i immediately knew something was wrong...horribly wrong. i walked closer to the door and the surrounding area got colder and colder. there weren't any animals running around and making noise. the chicken coop was dead silent.

i opened the door and froze. the smell of death was in the air. i looked around and there were small puddles of blood everywhere. i treaded lightly. i heard footsteps upstairs and i slowly made my way up there. i got up to the stairs and peaked in a room. nothing.

i heard some voices coming from the room at the way end. i walked over and slowly peered in. i saw fluttershy sitting on her bed covered in blood and petting a rabbit.

"it's alright angel mama's going to make everything alright." she said. the bunny was shaking in fear. she grabbed the bunny by the head and twisted it's neck. she let the lifeless body hit the floor and she laughed evilly. "dum fucking rabbit." she said.

"FLUTTERSHY" i said kicking in the door. "what the hell is wrong with you... that was angel... why."

"he was weak... but it's good to see that you're back you coward." she said walking over to me. "it's about time you came back... i couldn't stay mad at you." she said. she leaned in and gave me a huge kiss on the lips. i pushed her away from me.

"get off me you crazy bitch."

"oh i hate you so much... but i love you." she said. she walked over and tried to seduce me but i kept pushing her away. i should have noticed that she was leading me to the stairs. "fine then." she said as i pushed her away one more time.

she turned around and kicked my front leg. it broke backwards and i yelled in pain. i fell backwards and down the stairs. i hit the ground at the bottom and cried out in pain.

"now why did you go and make me do that..." she said walking down the stairs. she came over to me. she brought her snout to my face and started to lick my face. i used my shadows to grab something heavy and blunt. i eventually found something and i cracked her upside the head with it. the crack of her skull echoed through the room and she fell to the ground.

i laid there and let my shadows heal my wound. that was one of the most traumatic experiences i've had all day. didn't think fluttershy had that kind of stuff in her. i got up and used my shadows to bind and gag her. she was still out and the floor under her was collecting a puddle of blood. i might have hit her too hard.

i turned her over and assessed the damage. yeah i definitely hit her a bit too hard. you could see chunks of grey matter and brain. i slung her over my shoulder and slowly started to heal her as i walked out of the house.

i trudged through chocolate rain all the way to twilight's house. when i got there fluttershy was done healing. i opened the door and walked in. i threw fluttershy in the corner and i was then immediately tackled by three ponies. applejack, rarity, and pinkie pie. i smiled and laughed.

"hahaha, alright alright... c'mon girls let me go."

"no, you'll run away again." said pinkie with tears in her eye's.

"i figured out the spell while you were gone and i filled them in on everything." said twilight. my friends let go and i got up. i dusted myself off and i smiled at my friends.

"so this really is the end isn't it." said applejack. i smiled.

"not quite." i said.

"what do you mean not quite discord has obviously won." said rarity. i started to laugh.

"he's crazy... i knew it." said applejack. i stepped into the shadows and teleported to my house. i grabbed my armour that i had thrown on the ground and put it on. i stepped back into the shadows and teleported back. when i arrived all five of them gasped in shock.

"it ain't over until i'm dead." i said.

"what are you talking about." said applejack.

"fix fluttershy and follow me." i said

"alright." said twilight. she walked over to fluttershy and user her horn on her. she glowed a bright purple and all the color started to return to fluttershy's body. she was struggling to get out but when all the color returned to her body she was calm.

i walked over and untied her and she lept up and hugged me. she started crying. i calmed her down and twilight started to explain everything. but i stopped her. i reached into my bag and threw the real elements on the ground. everypony just stared in awe. i started to laugh again in my own victory.

"but but but but butbutbut." twilight stammered. i just laughed.

"when i gave that book to discord i had created a fake pair of elements. and i kept the real ones to myself... i'm surprised it actually worked." i said. the others just stared some more. "i can understand why you missed me." they all tackled me to the ground and laughed.

"you really are something aren't you." said twilight. i smiled.

"c'mon girls we have a job to do... kick discords ass." said dash. they leapt off of me and put the elements on.

"you girls stay behind me and i'll distract him so that you can blast him." i said. they shook their heads yes and we leapt from twilight's house. i spread my wings and flew to the center of town. and sure enough there was discord playing with the fake elements laughing to himself.

i gathered my shadows and used them to grab my sword. i lashed a few out at discord but he moved out of the way and they destroyed his throne.

"oh now that wasn't very nice." he said laughing. "somepony could get hurt." he said. the waved his arm and a length of rope wrapped around me. it threw me to the ground and let go. that hurt.

"i'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch." i said. i charged at him and out of nowhere he pulled out a big sword comprised of different metals. it was completely un symmetrical and top heavy. he swung it and missed.

"oh brava it's been awhile since i've had a good duel... have at you." he said. and the duel began. we fought until the girls came. he was obviously more skilled with a sword than i was but i managed to keep away.

he brought his sword up and i blocked it with my sword. he pressed down and we were at a stalemate. it was a matter of strength now. i looked over and i saw the girls. their necklaces were glowing.

"not so fast discord... you're reign of tyranny is over." he looked over and laughed but when he saw the elements he stopped laughing.

"but how did you-" i cut him off

"the elements i gave you were fake." i said pushing up on my sword. he became enraged and pushed down harder. he was stronger than me. i lashed out a few tentacles and used them to keep the sword up.

i looked over and the girls had started to glow and shoot of little symbols and give off a very bright light. discord only grew angrier and stronger. he pushed down and i was on my knees. i couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"hurry up" i yelled.

"go ahead do it." he said. "you'll destroy your friend too." he said with a smile. i saw the faces of my friends change and they started to glow less brighter.

"no do it... i'm not going to let this fucker ruin something as beautiful as our friendship." i said. they grew brighter but i had to motivate them further.

"silence you fool." said discord pressing harder on my blade.

"i'll be alright... i've been through too much already to die now... don't worry everything will be alright." i looked over at discord who had pressed down even harder. i found the strength in my body. stand up and even start flying. i was at his height and we were in a stalemate.

"i'll kill you." he said.

"don't worry everything will be alright." i said looking at my friends. i looked to discord. "that is both a threat and a promise." i said. and my friends grew brighter and fired a rainbow beam from the light.

"nooooo." said discord. the beam crashed down on discord, and there was a big explosion and white light. the explosion had torn off all of my armour and sent me flying through the air. as i flew i watched houses and tree's pass me by.

i grew closer to the ground and watched as everything around me flashed a bright white and returned to it's normal figure. i smiled. then i hit the ground. there was a sickening crunch and i screamed in pain. i bounced and flew some more. i tore straight through a few tree's and a building. i was now flying through the everfree forest. i tore through tree's like paper.

every tree i hit another wave of pain. i eventually ended up skidding across the ground. it completely tore up the side of my body and i trailed blood. i hit another tree hard enough to snap it but not tear through it. it fell on top of me and almost crushed me if it weren't for the angle that it fell.

that really REALLY hurt. i tried to get up or fly but i'm sure every bone in my body was broken. i'm pretty sure i'm not going to survive this and i passed out. everything went black and i was out. i woke up later to the sound of voices.

i was surprised to be alive. i looked down and saw i wasn't bleeding anymore. but i was still broken horribly. i looked over and saw my friends and the rest of the town running after my trail. i can't believe the town ran to get me too.

they saw me and rushed over. everypony cheered and i smiled. my friends saw that i was hurt and to the best of their ability removed the tree from the way.

"oh thank celestia you're alright." said rainbow dash. hugging me. she squeezed me tight and i screamed in pain. she immediately let go. "oh shit i'm sorry."

"it's fine" i said. i felt sick. i coughed up a bit of blood and everything started to go dizzy. i passed out and everything was black again. even though i was asleep i could feel everything happening around me to an extent.

they were carrying me someplace. probably the hospital. i felt them stop and set me down on something soft. i couldn't wake up the pain was too intense but i managed to smile in my sleep. i'm glad everything was going better. but now i had a more difficult challenge to face.

****dash was going to be a mother.


	36. Chapter 36: Alive

i don't know how long i was out but i woke up when i sensed a familiar presence. i slowly opened my eyes and the room was empty in front of me. i looked around and i saw the princess standing over by my bed. i looked at her and she smile, but i turned away.

"crimson i would like to apologize for my actions... they were cruel and unjust and i am truly sorry." she said. she sounded like she was sorry. almost sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"i've learned to forgive princess but not to forget." i said. she hung her head. "but the memory will only make me stronger and i thank you..." she seemed confused. "if the challenge hadn't presented itself to me i never would have been able to challenge myself. my only regret is that others had to suffer with me."

"you've done well crimson... ponyville and all of equestria are safe from discords tyranny and we have you to thank. even though you were not the one to strike down discord nopony would have without your help."

"thank you princess."

"remember crimson it's not about being the hero... but making the difference." she said. she smiled and i did too. "now there is a very important pony here to see you. she's been waiting a few weeks to see you awake."

"wait what."

"oh yes the accident... the damage to your body left you in a state of cataclysmic rupture and you're body had to heal itself. a process that would take a normal pony years was finished in a few weeks do to your power."

"well damn."

"i'm sure she is dying to see you again." said the princess walking to the door and opening it. she walked out and rainbow dash had walked in. she walked over and sat next to me. she had a big smile on her face.

"hey dashie." i said welcoming her onto my bed. she came over and sat down on the side of the bed. "how have you been."

"much better... thank you for coming back."

"i couldn't leave my two babies here now could i." i said. she laughed.

"speaking of babies i'm due in a week." she said. i looked down and she was quite pregnant. i hugged her stomach and put my ear up to it. she laughed. "what are you doing."

"shhh." i said. "i'm listening to the baby."

"and what is the baby saying."

"the baby says... it's dark in here." i said. she laughed and fell down on the bed. she rolled up next to me and i put my ear back up to her stomach. "the baby also says that you're the best mommy in the world." i said bringing my head up from her stomach and giving her a kiss.

"and does the baby know you're the best daddy in the world." she said.

"i don't need a baby to tell me that." i said. she laughed again and we hugged. the door swung open and my other friends walked in and so did scootaloo and her friends. scootaloo came over and jumped up onto the bed.

i reached one arm around and pulled her in between me and dash. dash gave her a peck on the head and i gave her one as well. i hugged her tight and she smiled.

"what's up scoots." i said.

"the whole town is waiting for you outside." she said.

"and why is that." i asked playfully as i was completely aware of the answer.

"you know why." she said. all of my other friends walked over and gathered over the bed.

"while you were gone we took the liberty of fixing things up for you in indigo city." said twilight.

"thanks twi." i said.

"and me and rarity fixed up yer house while you was out." said applejack.

"what was wrong with my house." i asked applejack.

"well when you exploded you kinda went flying into it and tore it apart." said applebloom.

"yeah and me and fluttershy helped give you more food." said pinkie. "we filled you house with all sorts of goodies like pies, and cakes and apple's and cupcakes and muffins and-" i cut her off.

"alright pinkie i get it." i looked a t fluttershy and she seemed happy despite she had viciously killed all of her animal friends. i pulled twilight over to me and whispered in her ear.

"uhmm is fluttershy alright."

"yeah i know about her animals and i fixed that... i borrowed that book i gave you." said twilight.

i let twilight go back to her friends. i stretched my arms and cracked my neck.

"alright you guys i need to get some fresh air... my back is killing me and i haven't been on my feet in a few weeks literally so lets go do something." i said getting up. dash and scoots jumped off the bed and i got up. i was a bit dizzy, but it was just the blood rushing to my head.

i tilted a bit and dash caught me. i cleared my head and collected my thoughts. i got on my four hooves and walked to the door..

"i wouldn't just yet." said twilight.

"why not." i asked.

"check the window first" said applejack. i walked over to the window and looked outside. i was on the top floor so i looked down and saw a crowd of ponies waiting with signs and whatnot. i couldn't read the signs from this angle. "you sure yer ready to fight of that crowd." asked applejack.

"i've been through worse... besides it'll keep me on my feet."

"alright you're funeral." said twilight. i walked over to the door and opened it up. i saw the princess still standing there with her sister.

"ah there you are." said the princess.

"we would like to apologize for all the trouble we have caused." said luna. "we were foolish to be kidnapped in the first place." she was talking in the first person but it was all with "we" it was interesting.

"there is going to be a ceremony for the seven of you in canterlot... we would love it if you would travel with us." said celestia. "it's tomorrow and you are welcomed to stay for a few days to celebrate the victory." she said.

i looked back to twilight.

"we had planned the celebration for when you woke up." she said. "it was supposed to be a week ago but we miscalculated and you were still asleep." i looked back to the princess and smiled.

"it would be an honor." i said.

"wonderful" she said. "alright go home and pack my little ponies... in an hour i will have more carriages here for you."

"what about the crowd." asked dash.

" i think i can fix that." i said. i concentrated hard and i brought my shadow to life next to me. it stood up and took a 3 dimensional form. now to add color. hair, eyes, fur, etc... there perfect. i walked over and put my hoof around it. "huh." i said pointing to it.

"not bad... i see you've improved on your powers." said the princess. i looked at the shadow. it was completely emotionless, not mindless but emotionless, completely different.

"alright me... walk to sugarcube corner... take the most public route you can possibly think of." i said. i waited for a response. it took a minute but it's mouth opened up.

"yesss... massster." he said. his voice was a little hoarse (lol pun) and dry. it sounded evil at nature. but that didn't matter he wouldn't do anything i didn't tell him to do. he started walking and went right out the door. we followed him. except the princess's they flashed their horns and disappeared.

we followed him and he finally got to the exit. i stopped my friends and he walked outside. the crowd of ponies surrounded him and followed him firing away questions but he kept walking. we waited till the coast was clear and we snuck away.

"c'mon dash lets go." i said grabbing scoots and throwing her on my back and taking off into the air.

"now hold up... i can't fly like this."

"alright you can hop on too." i said. i got down and she climbed onto my back. she was heavy but i managed to get up and airborne. we flew to my house. it was a bit of a bumpy ride, but we made it. i dropped us off and we went inside. the furniture was new and in a different place but it was home nonetheless.

i walked up to the stairs and started packing. dash slowly made her way upstairs and she clutched her stomach. i walked over and helped her up.

"are you sure you can do this dash... we can reschedule or something, or we don't have to go."

"it's fine baby... everything will be alright." she said. i turned her around and brought her back downstairs and sat her on the couch so i could go and pack. after we finished packing i went downstairs with the bags and got dash.

"hey scootaloo." i yelled.

"yeah dad." she said running into the.

"you figure out where you can stay while we're gone." i asked her.

"yeah i can stay at sweetie belle's parent's house." she said.

"alright me and dash will be back in a few days and we'll bring you back something nice."

"alright, bye dad bye dash." she said as we left. we said our goodbye's and i walked to the center of town. i was expecting to get over run by ponies but nopony was there. we got to the center and i saw my double standing there completely alone.

"hey." i said. he turned his head and looked at us. "where did everypony go." i asked. he took a minute to respond.

"they left on trains to the city of canterlot... i relocated myself to your position for further orders."

"self destruct." i said. the double melted and slithered back into place. i walked forward and eventually our friends came into view near sugarcube corner. we walked over and said our greetings. i watched as several carts flew over from the horizon.

they landed and we got on. there were three. it was me and dash in one. twilight and pinkie in the other. and fluttershy, applejack, and rarity in the third. the carts took off towards canterlot. it took a about half an hour before we finally got there.

the carts landed and we were escorted to the main hall where the princess was standing. we walked over and bowed. she greated us and began a conversation.

"i'm glad you all could make it."

"now i had planned a feast... but the cook seems to be ill and i can't find anypony willing to cook."

i thought this would be a good chance to show how well i could cook. and also a really good excuse to cook my favorite meal.

"princess if it's not too much trouble i would love to cook everypony a meal."

"i didn't know you could cook." she said.

"are you going to make that stuff you gave me in indigo city." asked twilight perking up.

"yep." i said.

"very well the kitchen is yours for the night... and i look forward to the meal." she said winking at me and walked away. i made my way to the kitchen and looked around. i was greeted by a sous chef.

" hello there i'm under the impression that you will be cooking for the princess tonight." she said.

"yes i'm making my favorite stew for her."

"ooh a stew been awhile since we made that here... follow me."" she said. my friends waved goodbye and they left except for dash who stayed with me. the sous chef brought us to a big cauldron in the back. it was perfect.

i started the fire and poured water in it. the water started to boil and i put in the herbs and spices. then i chopped up lettuce and cabbage and threw them in. i let that ferment for a while and i threw in some carrots and a pile of salt. i put in some pepper too. it started to get some color.

i skinned a bunch of apples and chopped them up into small chunks. i threw them in. it took about 2 piles of salt, half of a spice rack, 10 carrots, 30 apples and 5 heads of cabbage to make this but it was worth it.

there was enough food here to feed more than just us. i hope it doesn't go to waste that would be a shame. i grabbed a spoon and tasted it. it was the best yet. i let dash have some too.

"here dash try some." i said.

"what is it." she asked.

"my favorite meal that i learned to cook while i was in indigo city, apple cabbage stew." i said. she walked over and took a sip from the ladle. the smiled and drank the rest of the ladle. "holy shit that's good." she said. i laughed and gave her another taste.

i put the lid of the cauldron on the top and now we waited. after it boiled for a few minutes i put out the fire and let the soup sit so the flavor locked in. then i slid the lid off. the sous chef walked in and checked on us.

"how's it going in here." she said.

"all done..." i said "dash why don't you go and find the others i'll meet you at dinner." i said.

"alright..." she said and she walked off. the sous chef walked over and gave the stew a whiff.

"this smells unlike anything i've ever seen... or probably tasted." she grabbed the ladle. "you don't mind." she said.

"go ahead just don't eat all of it." i said. she scooped up some of the stew and she smiled in glee.

"this is simply amazing... we must save some for the head chef... he is ill you don't mind if i bring him a bowl to make help with his cold."

"of course not... there's plenty." i said looking back over at the cauldron... oh yes there certainly was plenty. she grabbed a bowl and walked out. a bunch of waiters came in with their gown on.

"good evening sir we are here to present the meal to the guests." one of them said.

"wonderfull go right ahead and feel free to help yourselves." i said.

"very good sir." he said. he and the other waiters started to fill bowls of soup and put them on platters. i walked out of the kitchen and into the main dining area. everypony was sitting there.

"ah wonderful" said the princess looking over to see me. "your friends have saved you a seat." she said gesturing to the empty seat between her and rainbow dash. i walked over and took a seat. i sat down and looked over at my friends.

"so what's fer dinner." asked applejack.

"it's a surprise." i said giving her a wink.

"i'm not sure how i feel about that." she said.

"don't worry A.J. it's delicious." said rainbow dash.

"trust her rainbow it is delicious." said twilight.

"they all speak highly of your meal..." said the princess pointing her attention to me. "i hope it's something different... to be honest i'm tired of sweets." she said. everypony laughed and the waiters came out with the platters and handed them out.

"dinner is served." the head waiter said and they walked out. everypony opened up the platter and looked at the soup. they looked at it and then over to the princess to see what she thought.

she looked at the soup questionably. she leaned in and sniffed it and picked up a spoon with her magic. she dipped it in the soup and pulled it closer to her face. she sipped down the spoonful and smiled. she took another sip and another.

everypony else started to eat. i had to resist the urge to wolf down my food in front of the princess, but i was so hungry. i started to eat a little faster.

"damn this is good." said applejack.

"it's so so so so yummy." said pinkie putting her face right into the bowl.

"i must say it is quite delicious." said rarity.

"it is pretty good." said fluttershy.

"mmm that's good cooking." said rainbow giving me a nudge.

"thanks everypony... it's just one of many recipes i've picked up in indigo city."

"ah i know that place." said the princess. "they're at war are they not, to become part of equestria... i honestly don't agree with that idea. i believe they should stay a separate nation... things are simpler that way."

"that's what i thought." i said. "it's pretty pointless, i'm just lucky enough to not have seen any of the war while i was there... it is quite a nice place." i said. we all continued to eat our soup. we even had seconds and when those were done we had thirds. i don't know about the rest of them but i could still go for some more.

i asked the waiter to bring me another bowl. so did pinkie, applejack ,and even the princess. we continued to eat and the others had dessert.

"so princess how is the stew."

"it's amazing." she said smiling and taking a sip. "you must give my head chef the recipe."

"i can do that." i said. we finished our food and had dessert as well. we had ice cream. it was really fancy ice cream though. we ate the food and i was stuffed. i leaned against rainbow and burped.

"don't do that." she said pushing me away. i laughed. "you're gonna screw up the baby." she said. she wasn't serious but she was annoyed.

"sorry baby." i said kissing her stomach. she laughed. "and you too baby." i said kissing her on the cheek. she laughed again.

"oh that's right i knew i was forgetting something... and quite a big something at that." said the princess. "i wish my regards to you and your family...and the new baby. i hope he grows up to be just like his father."

"that would be awesome." i said.

"i don't think i can handle two of you... especially one that cries and shits himself on a daily basis." said rainbow. i laughed. i finished my food and the waiters came and took our dishes.

"well, thank you crimson for the wonderful meal..." said the princess. "i'm going to retire to my room now. i hope you all have a wonderful night and i will see you tomorrow afternoon for the ceremony."

"goodnight princess." we all said. "in a flash of light she was gone. we all got up and a maid entered the room.

"now if you will all follow me i will take you to you're rooms." she said. she lead us through the castle. applejack and rarity were sharing one room. pinkie twilight and fluttershy took another and me and dash had been given the room i had stayed in before.

i thanked the maid and she left us to our business. dash walked over to the bed and pulled herself under the covers.

"come to bed sweaty." she said.

"hmm... i'm not tired. besides i promised to pick up something for scootaloo." i said.

"alright... but don't be gone too long."

" don't worry i'll be back in an hour. you just get some sleep." i said. i opened the window and fell. i plummeted to the ground and flexed out my wings i dived down to the town and slowed down as i neared the ground. i landed and ponies were still up and shops were still open.

i walked around until i found a confectionery shop. i walked in and looked around. i looked until i found a stuffed bear. it was made from some really good shit because it was like 40 bits. i grabbed it and bought it. i left the store and put it in my bag. there was one more thing i had to get. something real special.

i walked around until i found what i was looking for. the jeweler. i walked in and looked around. there was a wide variety of rings and necklaces. they weren't really rings because ponies don't have fingers but they were like solid bracelets. they called them rings anyway, who cares.

i looked around the ring isle and i found the perfect one. i was a gold ring with a rainbow diamond on it. the diamond was in the center. it reflected the light so well it looked like it was a rainbow. it was perfect. it was also 5000 bits. luckily i grabbed all my money.

i grabbed it and walked it to the counter. it took a minute for the guy to walk over to the desk because he was inspecting a diamond. he finally walked over and looked at me.

"can i help you sir."

"yes i would like to purchase this ring."

"i'm sorry sir you can't afford this." he said. i grabbed a bag from my bigger bag and used my powers to fill it with 5000 bits. i put it on the counter and he just stared at it.

"bullshit." i said. "now are you going to stop being a snooty asshole or am i going to have to take my business elsewhere, because i know where i can get something like this for free." i said. i was lying, this was a one of a kind ring. it was beautiful.

"i'm so sorry sir let me just ring you up." he said.

"thank you." i said changing my mood. he rung up the purchase and took the bits. he put the ring in a case.

"may i ask the occasion." he said.

"it's for my friend... she's going to have my child and i want to propose." i said. the colts face lit up at the word propose.

"oh that is absolutely splendid... you have my regards and i hope you two are happy." he said waving goodbye as i felt the store. i wasn't going to give it to dash right away. i'm going to wait for the perfect moment. and i think i knew when.

i put the ring in my bag and flew off to the castle. i floated my way to the bedroom window. it was dark. i opened the window slowly and stepped in. i closed the window and walked over to the bed. i put my bags down and curled up in bed with dash.

i grabbed her waist and pulled her into me. i hugged her and wrapped my hooves around her stomach. she giggled a little bit and smiled.i guess she was awake. i smiled as well.

"i love you crimson." she said.

****"i love you too dashie." i said holding her tight. i could feel my eyes growing heavy. i guess i was a bit tired. i slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep. tomorrow was the big day. it was the award ceremony for all of us. and i had a few surprises up my own sleeve.


	37. Chapter 37: It Just Gets Better

i slowly woke up as the light of the morning filtered into the room. i looked around and saw that it was still dark in the room except for a few places where the light had flooded into the room. i rubbed rainbow dash's belly and she woke up.

"stop that." she said smiling. "it tickles."

"you're gonna have to kiss me if you want me to stop." i said rubbing her stomach harder. she started to laugh and she brought her lips over to mine. she kissed me and i stopped tickling her. she pulled away and yawned.

i yawned too. i stretched my arms and got up. i walked over to the window and opened up the curtains. i let the light of the morning flood the room . i walked over to the windows and opened them. it was a beautiful summer day... that's right it was summer. i had almost forgotten. feels like it was spring a few weeks ago.

there was a knock at the door. rainbow got up and i walked over to open the door. it was twilight she was standing there in a dress. she had another dress with her and... my dragon armour.

"about time you guys got up. here put this stuff on... the princess sent for them and they got here a while ago... gotta look good for canterlot." said twilight. "i'll let you guys get dressed and then we can go."

"wait what time is it." i asked twilight.

"it's like two in the afternoon... you guys really overslept."

"alright we'll be out in a minute." i said. i closed the door and grabbed the clothes. i gave rainbow her dress and i started putting my armour on. she got her dress on before my armour. putting this stuff on isn't easy. there's like 50 straps and buckles you have to tighten.

after a while i got my armour on. i walked over to dash who had her dress on. it did a good job of hiding her belly. i gave her a kiss and we walked to the door together. i pushed open the doors and i joined twilight in the hallway.

"looking good." she said.

"you to twi." i said. we walked down the hall and we were greeted by the others. soon we were in front of the door to the main hall. i took a deep breath and looked to my friends. and smiled. the doors opened and there were crowds of ponies cheering and screaming.

twilight and dash went in first. then it was applejack and rarity. then up next was fluttershy and pinkie pie. after they went in it was time for me to make my entrance. i could hear the crowd cheering for me they chanted "shadow." and i'm not one to disappoint.

i gathered my shadows and stretched out my wings. i walked in slowly and everypony cheered. i looked at the ponies through my helmet and i saw my friends take their place at the side of the princess. i slowly walked by and stared at all the ponies.

they cheered and screamed my name. i finally got to the side of the princess and i brought my wings back to my side and the shadows dissipated. the princess raised a hoof and everypony was quiet. then she spoke up.

"we are here today to celebrate and honor the bravery and determination of these seven ponies. were it not for them than equestria as we know it would be doomed. and as a start i would like to commemorate one of the newest additions to the castle to these ponies." she said.

she gestured over to a window with a tarp over it. the tarp fell and showed a stain glass window. it had a picture of my six friends firing a blast of light at discord above them. it looked nice.

the princess walked over and gave all six of them big gold medals and congratulated them. but not me. she walked back over and everypony cheered. but she raised her hoof again and the crowd went silent.

"there is one more pony i would like to congratulate... crimson blast." she said gesturing to me. "i have so many things to say about this pony and i don't even know where to begin. crimson is the kindest most generous and loving pony i have seen in hundreds of years."

i stared at the crowd of ponies. they were dead silent they just looked up and smiled. my six friends had moved out of the way and i was in the middle of the stage.

"he came into equestria looking for a new life and it has been nothing but fighting and struggle for him. it has made him strong... stronger than i've ever seen anypony become. as you are well aware he was falsely accused a while ago and put in prison where he suffered beatings and confinement."

everypony put their heads down as if it was their fault that had happened to me. i don't know where the princess was going with this but i know it was going to be good.

"he eventually escaped and ran from equestria. when the problem fixed itself and i invited him back he refused. a lot of people were miserable without him and life was hard in ponyville without somepony to protect it. only when he got word from my student twilight sparkle that his friends were in trouble did he come back."

the princess kept talking and i looked to my friends. they all had big smiles on their faces and they had tears in their eyes. i looked to the crowd. it was a sea of mixed emotions.

"i would like to apologize for the way i have treated him and dedicate this stain glass window in his honor." she said.

she gestured her hoof to another window covered with a tarp. the tarp fell and showed everypony the window. it was a picture of me on one side with my sword and armour with my shadows behind me. i was in a duel with discord who was on the other side. it looked pretty cool.

"crimson dash..." she said looking at me. "you told me that you have learned to forgive but not to forget... well i hope that one day you can forget this ever happened and we can all be friends again." she said.

"princess i've already forgotten." i said. she smiled and gestured to a pony on the other side of the stage. he walked over and opened a box. it had a huge medal in it and it had a large cross made of onyx in the middle. the princess used her magic and put it over my head.

"would you like to say anything crimson."

"yes i would." i said.

i walked over and looked over the crowd. they all had smiles on their faces. i looked back to my friends and they were the same as the crowd. i looked down at the medal and over to the windows.

"i never asked for anything to be easy... so i regret nothing... well that would be a lie. the only regret that i had is that when i was suffering others had to suffer with me. that only happens because they love me. and that's not a physical suffering that's emotional, and it's far worse i'll tell you that, i know."

i looked over to my friends again and i smiled.

"i never asked for friends as great as these and i'm lucky to have them... and i hope they feel the same way... and i would like to apologize as well. i was a bit unstable and angry for a while and when i ran away i hurt the ones i love and i should not have done that."

i walked over to my friends. i stood in front of twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"twilight i'm sorry for any pain you may have felt while i was gone." i said. she smiled. "the same thing for you too applejack, fluttershy, rarity, pinkie pie, and you too rainbow dash."

i pulled rainbow over with me to the front of the stage.

"i believe you were the one who missed me the most... and with you being pregnant i can't blame you." i said the crowd gasped when they heard pregnant "i'm never going to do that again... ever."

i got on my knees and looked up at her.

"i love you rainbow dash and i'm here for you. i'm going to stay with you and we are going to raise this baby... but i have to ask something of you." i said

"yes." she said. she had tears in her eye's and she was smiling bigger than before. i used my shadows to summon the ring over to me and i held it open for her. everypony gasped and smiled.

"rainbow dash... will you marry me." i said. everypony was silent. i could see tears welling up in her eyes and i smiled at her. she covered her mouth with her hoof and put it on my shoulder.

"of course i will" she said. she flew forward and hugged me as hard as she could. the entire city of canterlot seemed to be cheering. they started throwing roses and confetti.

i grabbed the ring out of the box and slowly slid it on dashes hoof. it looked beautiful. and she did too. she hugged me again and i hugged her back. i got up off my knees and we walked over with my friends so the princess could speak.

"thank you everypony for coming to honor the bravery and love of these seven ponies. you may now return to your homes." she said. everypony started to flood out of the castle and it was filled with random chatter and talking. the princess walked over and looked at us. she stopped when our eyes met.

rainbow dash still had her hooves around me and i had mine around her too. i kissed her and she kissed back. we turned our attention to the princess and she smiled at us.

"i'm very proud of you crimson." she said. "it takes bravery and an untold amount of love to announce something like that... and even more so to the entire city of canterlot and the princess." she said "i hope you two would consider holding the ceremony here... i would love to marry the two of you."

"what do you think baby." i said to dash.

"i would love a wedding here... but the baby will be here by then." she said.

"we can find a babysitter it's not a problem." i said.

"alright" she hugged me." i love you crimson blast." she said.

"and i love you too rainbow dash." i said hugging her back. i looked over to my friends they had the biggest smiles on their faces. especially pinkie. i hugged dash harder and twilight walked over.

"that was pretty amazing." she said. "i hope you two will be happy together."

"boy howdy that was something" said applejack. "you're one hell of a guy. she said slapping me on the back. only then did i realize my back may not have been 100% healed. when she slapped my back i cringed. "oh sorry."

"i'm happy for you two." said rarity. "just... promise me crimson that you won't ruin this by doing something stupid like getting yourself killed."

"i promise rarity." i said.

"congratulations crimson... woohoo." said fluttershy.

"thanks fluttershy." i said.

"oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh... do you know what this means... we have to celebrate, PARTY. screamed pinkie pie. i laughed.

"maybe not yet... i mean we're not actually getting married for a while pinkie, these things just don't happen instantly."

"awww." said pinkie.

"don't worry pinkie you can be incharge of any and all party's happening during the wedding." said dash. pinkie perked up.

"but we should celebrate... why don't we go and get some food." said twilight.

"y'all sure they don't want to be alone by themselves." said applejack giving us a wink. "they're not going anywhere." she said.

i was going to say something but now that i think of it that sounded like a nice plan. me and dash in a dark room cuddling together. suddenly the princess walked up behind us. i had forgotten she was still there.

"why don't we let the couple choose." i looked to rainbow dash and she was clutching her stomach.

"baby are you alright." i asked.

"yeah it's just a few contractions." she said. she started to moan and i held her. "oh... oh crap."

"what..." i said. "what is it."

"i think my water just broke." she said. i don't think i've ever seen the mood change so fast in my entire life. "oh no the baby is coming."

"GUARDS." said the princess in a booming voice. two guards walked into the room. "take this mare to the hospital quickly she is pregnant." she said.

the guard walked over to her and i did to. their horns glowed and they were gone. i flew out of the castle as fast as i could and i hunted down the hospital. i found it and swooped down. i looked around but dash wasn't here in the waiting room. i walked over to the help desk.

"i need to find my spouse... she just came in here and she's pregnant." i said

"is she the one with the rainbow hair." asked the woman.

"yes."

"room 4b." she said. i flew down the halls and eventually came across room 4b. i walked in and saw dash on the bed with the doctors around her. on of them turned to me.

"sir you can't be in here." one of them said

"no it's alright" said dash. "he's the father."

"oh i'm sorry sir." he said apologizing. i made my way over to dash and i held her hoof. she was breathing frantically. i couldn't believe this was happening right now... talk about timing.

"it's alright dash you can do this." i said to her holding her hoof.

"alright ma'am we need you to relax so the baby can start sliding out" the doctor said. i she relaxed and calmed down. after a while the doctor poked his head up again. "alright now push." he said. rainbow pushed.

she clutched my hoof really tight and she started screaming. i was helping her get through this when my vision went black. i almost fell over but i kept her hand still. i heard a loud ringing sound and some laughter. i got a really bad headache. eventually it faded and i snapped back to reality.

i looked over and the doctor was holding the baby in his arms. he cut the umbilical cord and checked it. he held the baby and spanked it. it started to cry.. he held it and brought it over.

"we are going to take the baby to the nursery and clean him up and check for any problems alright." he said.

"alright." said dash. she closed her legs and laid back. she looked at me and smile. she leaned in and gave me a big kiss. and i gave her one too.

"there the painful part is over." i said.

"but not the hard part." she said. she was right that was not the hard part. infact the hard part will last for the next 18 years. i took a seat next to dash on the bed and i hugged her. it wasn't long before the doctor came back in.

"i'm glad to tell you that your new baby pegasus girl is here." he said. it was a girl just like i thought."and she is a completely healthy baby." he brought us the baby. we looked at her as she was bundled up in a few blankets. she had light blue fur. she had shaggy hair like dashes. it was a combination of red yellow and orange. it looked like the sunset.

the baby opened it's eyes and smiled. it made a few cooing noises and shuffled around in her blanket. she had my hazel eyes. she was the most beautiful baby i've ever seen.

"what should we name her" i said to dash. we thought for a while before we came up with a name.

"we'll call her dawn." she said. it was perfect. we unwrapped the baby from the blanket and we saw that she had wings. we stayed there for a while and held our new baby as she slept softly. she was the cutest thing ever. i held rainbow dash as she held our baby. "do you want to hold her." she said.

"yes please." dash handed dawn over to me. she woke up and looked at me. i had expected her to cry but she just smiled and held her hands out like she was trying to grab me

"awww. she wants her daddy." she said.

"who's a cute baby." i said rubbing her tummy. she laughed and waddled her arms. there is no possible thing to compare a baby's laughter to... NOTHING. i tickled her tummy some more and she laughed and laughed. i stopped and before i could pull my hoof away she grabbed it and started sucking on it.

"awww" said rainbow. she slowly fell asleep while sucking on my hoof. we sat there and watched her sleep. i heard the door slowly creak open. i looked up and i saw the head of twilight sparkle.

"shhh." i said and i invited her in. she looked behind her and said the same thing. she walked in and so did my other friends. even the princess was here. they walked over to look at the baby. they all awed at the sight.

"she is so precious." said twilight.

"i ain't never seen something so cute in mah life." said applejack.

"oh my gosh she is so adorable." said fluttershy. rarity and pinkie just smiled. the princess came over to me and looked down at the baby. dawn woke up and stared at the princess. the princess smiled back as dawn stretched out her arms and legs trying to reach the princess. she smiled and laughed. both of them.

"you have a beautiful daughter crimson." said the princess.

"thank you celestia." i looked at her and smiled i looked over at rainbow dash next. "you ready to go honey." i said. she looked at me and smiled.

"yeah lets get going." she said.

"i'll go get a wheelchair." said twilight.

"twilight." i said.

"yes crimson." she said.

"theres one right here." i said stepping out of the way revealing the fold up wheelchair standing next to me. her face went a bit red from embarrassment. it was funny so i started to giggle. the baby started to laugh. i looked down and noticed he was playing with one of the spikes on my armour. i pulled it away before she hurt herself.

she looked like she was going to cry so i stuck my face in her belly and gave her a raspberry. she giggled and cheered up. dash giggled too. i took off my armour before it hurt somepony and i threw it in my bag. i helped dash into her wheelchair and i rolled her out.

we made it out of the hospital and we went over to the street. all of my friends joined us and so did the princess.

"i could imagine the two of you would want to go home." said celestia. she whistled and a carriage flew from the sky. it landed next to us and the back opened up.

"are you guys sure." said dash.

"rainbow dash you just had a freaking baby." said twilight nudging us towards the carriage. we walked forward towards the carriage. "just go home and rest, it's not like you're leaving forever."

"alright you guys are right..." said dash. "besides i can't even feel my legs.".

"c'mon baby lets go." i said. i picked up dash from her wheelchair and carried her to the cart. i looked back at my friends and smiled. "don't have too much fun without us" i said.

"we'll see you in a bit crimson." said twilight. the carriage took off and we were going. i spent the entire time waving bye to my friends until they were out of sight. i turned away and sat down next to dash. the baby was still asleep. dash leaned against me and closed her eye's

"why am i so lucky to have you." she said.

"thats funny... when i was in indigo city my friends told me i was nothing but luck."

"he was right." said dash. "so what now." she asked.

"i think after we get married we should take things slow for a while... take some time to settle down and wait for our baby to grow up you know."

"yeah probably." she said. she looked at the baby and it just slept. she laughed.

"what's so funny." i asked.

"i never thought this would happen to me. at least not until i was older and in my late 30's. but whenever i wonder about how this could happen to me i just think about what has happened to you so far and all my problems just seem... not as bad."

"yes baby but you're problems are your own and their mine to. because if something has a problem with you they have to get through me first."

"thanks baby." she said giving me a kiss. i gave her a kiss back. i heard a few giggles from under us and i saw the baby laying there and smiling at us. "awww i think he wants a kiss too." said dash. she leaned over and kissed the baby gently on the forehead. i leaned in and did the same. she giggled some more and shook her hooves.

one of the guards looked back when they heard the sounds of the baby.

"congratulations on the new baby." he said. the other guard nudged him. "oh calm down the princess won't care." he said. "what's the babies name."

"her name is dawn..." said dash. "and thank you"

"if you wish Mr. Blast we can bring you straight to your house." the second guard said acting more formal than the other one. i could tell the first guard was rolling his eyes.

"thank you that would be great." i said. i looked over the side of the carriage and saw that ponyville was growing closer. "it's the big house in the woods." i said.

"have you ever thought about getting any neighbors honey." dash asked.

"yeah sure baby. i'll go to the store and pick some up." she laughed.

"i meant like as friends." she said. now that i think about it... i have absolutely no guy friends in ponyville, or even equestria. i was friends with hrothar and kroger in indigo city but i don't think that i could be neighbors with them anymore. "you have absolutely no guy friends." said dash.

"well there's big mac... sort of."

"when's the last time you talked to him." she asked.

"alright maybe i could do with being a bit more social." i said sitting back down. i leaned against the side of the carriage and dash leaned against me. the baby looked over and stretched her arms out again. i picked her up and hugged her. she wrapped her tiny hooves around my neck and snuggled into my chest.

"she's gonna be a real daddy's girl when she grows up." said dash.

"that would be interesting." i said

"think she might be hungry yet." asked dash.

" i don't know she isn't crying or anything."

"yeah about that i'm a bit worried since she hasn't been crying at all. when i knew i was going to be a mother i thought that there would be a lot of crying involved."

"me too." i was going to tell a story about when i had a human child in my world but the guards were there and they could hear us. "she's just a happy baby." i said. i held onto her a bit more and i felt the carriage come to a stop.

"alright Mr. Blast we have arrived at your home." said the second guard still acting formal. i got up and helped up dash. she was a bit shaky but she could stand.

"i'll hold the baby." i said. "you can barely stand." i helped her out of the cart and i walked over to the guards. "thank you sirs for the flight." i said

"your welcome" the first one said. i walked over and shook his hoof. the baby reached over to try and grab him and she giggled. "awww she's adorable." he said.

"thank you." i said. "and take care." i watched them spread their wings and take off to the clouds. i walked over to rainbow who was standing at the doorway. i walked over and opened the door. scootaloo wasn't home so i should go and get her later. i walked dash over to the couch and she sat down. i gave her the baby and she held her.

the baby started sucking on it's own hoof. it was funny.

"she's so cute." said dash.

"oh i have something for the baby." i said. i reached into my bag and pulled out the teddy bear i had bought. i handed it over to the baby. she stared in awe at it for a while and smiled. she grabbed it and wrapped her hooves around it. she giggled.

"that was a nice thought." said rainbow. i had completely forgotten to give that to scoots, she'll be fine she has a sister now. i think she will forget. "you should go out and get some baby stuff." said dash.

"baby stuff."

"you know what i mean." she said kicking my led lightly.

"alright and while i'm out i'll grab scoots." i said "i'll be back in like 2 hours." i said grabbing my bags from the corner. i removed all of my armour from the bag and put it on the floor.

"put that stuff away first." said dash "especially that sword it's gonna give me nightmares with the baby around." i picked up my stuff and walked upstairs with it. i opened the closet and stored it in there. i closed the closet door and walked back downstairs.

"there all dangers have been stuffed into the closet." i said walking to the door. she laughed and waved goodbye. i walked out of the house and closed the door behind me. i walked down the path to the main road and i finally got into the town.

the entire time i was walking to the shopping district i was being waved at by ponies. i didn't really know any of the names of all the ponies. i recognized their faces and that's how i knew who they were. i did know a few like lyra, bonbon, doctor whooves, and that drunk bitch who hits on me when i go to the bar...uhm, berry punch. that's really it.

i started walking through the shopping district until i came up on the general store. i walked in and the bell rung. the store clerk looked up and smiled.

"ah, Mr. Blast what can i do for you." he said walking from behind the desk.

"i need filly supplies." i said.

"wonderful are they a gift." he said.

"nope." i answered. it took him a second but when the information clicked his face lit up like a candle.

"oh that is wonderful what's the babies name."

"dawn."

"that is a beautiful name" he said.

"thank you." i said. he walked me over to an isle that was full of stuff for babies. i grabbed a few things like diapers, milk bottles, pacifiers, baby powder, and baby food. i was going to have to make a few trips for things like a crib and highchair. i walked over to the desk and the clerk started to mark up the total.

"so i didn't hear about the new baby from anypony in town." said the clerk.

"we were in canterlot when the baby came." i said.

"oh yes at the award ceremony i see." he said. i looked down and noticed i was still wearing my medal. i completely forgot about that. i guess having a baby took my mind off of it. what am i kidding of course it did.

"yeah... it was a bit of a shock when rainbow dash told me she was going into labor in front of the princess right after the ceremony" i said.

"ah so rainbow dash is the lucky mare" he said "i knew she was pregnant but i never thought it was with you... i always figured it was that big mac fella"

"nope this one is my fault" i said. he laughed.

"alright sir the total come out to 35 bits." i reached into my bag and pulled out the money and handed it to him. "and we don't sell cradles or anything big like that but there's a shop down the street that sells them."

"you mean the big furniture store?" i asked.

"yep they sell them a bit far to the back though." he said.

"thank you." i said and i grabbed the stuff and put it into my bag. i walked out of the store and my stomach growled. maybe i could pick up some food at sugar cube corner for me and dash. she might be hungry too. i can get the crib later. it's still going to be day for a bit.

i checked the town hall clock. i was wrong, it was already like six. alright if i go get the food and hurry home i could still have time to grab the crib. besides it doesn't get dark until like nin during the summer.

i walked my way through the streets and got more smiles and waves from the ponies i passed. i eventually got to sugarcube corner. i walked in and over to the counter. there were a few ponies in the benches here. they smiled and waved while they ate. i waved back.

"oh hello dearie what can i get you." i heard behind me. i didn't even have to turn around to tell it was mrs. Cake. i turned around and smiled. "oh it's you hello." she said. "didn't expect you to be back so soon. where are the others." she said.

"a few things came up and me and rainbow dash had to leave early." i said. she covered her mouth.

"it's not what i think it is." she said with a smile. i opened my bag up and showed her the baby supplies. "oh dearie that is so great." she said. "what's the babies name."

"her name is dawn." i said

"oh that is so wonderful" she said clapping her hooves together "honey come here." she said yelling into the kitchen.

"one second." said Mr. Cake from the kitchen. he walked out with a tin of muffins and placed them on a cooling rack on the counter. "yes sweetie." he said walking over. "hello crimson." he said. mrs. Cake whispered into his ear. his face lit up and he smiled. "oh my gosh that is wonderful." he said

"isn't it." mrs. Cake said.

"can i order please." i said smiling hoping to get things moving along. "it's getting late and i still have stuff to pick up." i said.

"of course of course." said mr. Cake. "what'll it be." he said. i didn't really care what to have.

"i'll take have a dozen muffins and half a dozen cupcakes." i said.

"i'll have that to ya in five seconds." said walking into the kitchen. she didn't lie it was really only a few seconds before she walked back out with a box of sweets. she placed it on the counter. i reached into my pouch to pay but she stopped me.

"don't worry about it." Mr. Cake said "it's a gift." he said.

"thank you." i said picking up the box and closing my bag. i put the box in my other puch and smiled.

"Dad?" i heard from behind me. i turned around to see scootaloo and her friends. "what are you doing here." she said smiling.

"ah i was just going to go get you..." i said. "i have big news." i said. mr and mrs cake giggled behind me. i walked over to scootaloo and her friends.

"what's the news." she said.

"you'll have to come home and figure that out." i said.

"alright." she said "can applebloom and sweetie belle come too." she asked.

"why not." i said. "as long as they promise to go home before eight." i said.

"we promise." they said in unison.

"c'mon" i said walking out of the store. i walked back to the house and they followed me. the entire time they were spitting out questions to each other trying to figure out what the surprise might be. they were way off. i got to the house and opened the door.

i walked in and the three little fillies jumped in too. they started looking around for whatever they thought was the surprise. i looked over at rainbow in the living room smiling at the three little fillies as they ran into the kitchen.

"where is it." said scoots.

"it's in the living room." i said. they ran into the living room and they all stopped when they saw dash holding the baby. their faces lit up and i walked over and sat next to dash.

"oh my gosh..." said sweetie belle. "dash had a baby." she said.

"yep... scootaloo say hello to your new sister dawn." i said.

"no way." she said "awesome." she lept onto the couch and looked at the baby. dawn opened her eyes and looked at scootaloo. they both blankly stared at each other. scootaloo stuck her face closer and smiled.

dawn tilted her head and smiled too. she giggled and grabbed scootaloo's snout. she giggled and scootaloo giggled too. dawn let go and smiled again.

"i wanna see." said applebloom.

"me too." said sweetie belle.

"now girls don't crowd around her she might get scared." said dash. applebloom stuck her head over first. the baby smiled and giggled.

"she like me." said applebloom.

"my turn" said sweetie belle. applebloom moved her head out of the way and she stuck her face over the baby. dawn smiled again and giggled. she started swatting at the bob of hair on sweetie belle's head. it was cute. she hit it a few more times and stopped. dawn yawned and closed her eyes. she smiled and fell asleep.

"alright girls that's enough... she needs her sleep." said dash.

"awww." they all said in union. they hung their heads down and i got up. i emptied my bag of baby supplies. i closed the bag and walked to the door.

"why don't you girls stay here and keep dash and the baby company... i still need to go and get a crib and highchair." i said walking to the door. i opened it up and walked out. i closed the door behind me and took off into the air. i flew over the town until i got to the furniture store. i swooped down and landed next to the door.

i walked in and looked around. i made my way to the back past the beds and looked around. i looked forward and saw a bunch of cradles. i looked around and saw a nice looking one that was painted to look like clouds. i checked the price. it was 500 bits. not that bad. although with the money i've been spending i might have to get a job. maybe. i haven't checked the chest in a while.

i walked around again and i looked for a highchair. i saw a nice pink one for only 150 bits. i think i've decided that to get. i walked over to the mare behind the desk. she looked up and smiled.

"hello sir, what can i get you." she asked.

"yes i would like the cloud style cradle and the pink highchair." i said.

"oh congratulations on the baby." she said.

"thank you..." i said. she walked from behind the counter to help me with the furniture. "you're the first one to come to the conclusion that i'm the one with a baby." i said.

"it's not hard." she said. "besides you look like the father type." she said. she walked over to the cradle and then over to the high chair. "alright sir the total will be 650 bits. she said. i reached into my bag and started gathering bits. i got the money and gave it to her in a little pouch. "and would you like help with this sir." she said.

"no i can handle it." i said. i used my powers to pick up the furniture with my shadows. her face lit up a bit and she probably figured out who i was.

"oh my gosh." she said. "you're the stallion from the paper... i was wondering what that medal was for." she said. i realized i was still wearing it. i keep forgetting to take it off. i don't even notice it pressing against my chest. "congratulations on the baby... i hope he or she turns out just like you." she said.

i smiled and made my way down the isle's. i left the store with the furniture by my side and i flew into the air. i flew past the town and got to the house. i was surprised to see how easy it was to move this furniture. i opened the door and brought the furniture inside. there was a storage room i had were the baby could sleep.

and since i didn't actually have anything to store it could be the babies room. i think i still had some leftover paint. but that's a project for tomorrow. i walked into the living room and set the furniture down. i walked over and saw rainbow and scootaloo smiling at me.

"i've got a room for the baby to have." i said. i walked over to to storage room and opened it up. scootaloo and dash followed me. i walked in and noticed a lone box sitting on the ground in the middle of the room. i never put anything into this room.

"what's in the box honey." asked rainbow.

"i'm not sure. this wasn't here before." i said.

"look dad there's a note." said scootaloo. i walked over and there was a small note taped to the top of it. i picked up the note. it was from celestia. i looked at the box and it was already collecting dust so this might be a bit old. i read the note aloud.

"Dear crimson blast." read the note. it actually said my real name but i can't say that in front of scootaloo. "i thought about all you have done and decided it would be alright to give these back... now that i can trust you you've earned them. with regards, princess celestia"

"woah it's from the princess." said scootaloo. "open it up." she said. i looked down at the box. it was quite a big box, i did wonder what was in it. i opened it up and looked inside. i was shocked.

it was all my old stuff. my clothes, gun, ammo, food, flares and grenades, and other supplies. scootaloo walked over and she was surprised.

"WOAH what is all this stuff." she said. i couldn't tell her where it came from so i quickly made up a lie.

"well scoots before i lived in ponyville i lived to the north in the mountains with mages. they discovered that they could combine magic and metal to create a few projectile weapons. i was given one of them" i said. that was the biggest load of bullshit that has ever escaped my mouth but it worked.

"woah way cool." she said. i picked up the gun and held it with my wings. i could still shoot this thing but it was BIG. it was heavy and long but it looked pretty cool. i looked down the sights to see if i could still aim

"what was the princess thinking giving you this stuff back. it's dangerous." said dash.

"don't worry i'm not going to use it in the house" i said. "but i can go outback and show scootaloo." dash looked a bit worried but she lightened up.

"alright but be careful and don't go crazy with the thing alright." she said.

"don't worry i'll only fire it a few times." i said "c'mon scoots." i said i walked out of the room and to the back door. i walked outside and she followed me. i walked over to the forest and held up the gun. i looked down the sights and aimed at a tree. i pulled the trigger and nothing happened.

i looked down. safety was on. i flipped it off and tried again. i looked down the sights and looked over to scootaloo. maybe this wasn't a good idea. i made up another lie. i flipped the safety again and pulled the trigger. i pulled it again and again. then i looked at it. she seemed disappointed.

"hmmm i guess it's out of juice."

"awww." she said with her ears hanging by the side of her head. "that's no fun... can you fix it."

"maybe but it's going to take some time." i said.

"that's dumb."

"hey cheer up there's plenty of cool things to do." i said. i looked up at the sky and the sun had set, it was getting dark. "besides it's late we should go to bed, or at least i do and so does dash we have had the biggest day ever." i said

"alright." she said walking lazily back inside. i walked over and sat down next to dash. i used my powers to move the stuff from the living room to the babies room.

i walked to the closet and grabbed some blankets and a pillow. i walked into the babies room and set up the crib. i put the stuffed animal in there and dash walked in. she set the baby in the crib and gave her a kiss. she laughed and started sucking on her hoof. she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

dash gave me a kiss as well and i walked into the living room. scootaloo was sitting on the couch kicking her hooves. she was looking at the ground and looked up at us.

"so if dash is the baby's mother and the baby is my sister" she said. she gasped. "does that mean dash is my mom too." she said, her face lighting up.

"as a matter of fact it does." i said. dash held up her hoof and showed scootaloo the ring.

"he proposed at the ceremony and it was the most beautiful thing ever." she said i laughed and kissed her on the neck and she giggled.

"oh my gosh yes yes yes." said scootaloo jumping around the room.

"alright kiddo calm down don't you have like school or something in the morning." she said.

"no school ended a week ago." she said. "it's summer." she exclaimed taking one more dive onto the couch.

"well you still need to sleep." i said.

"alright." she said. we walked over and gave me i hug. i kissed her on the forehead and she gave dash a hug. dash kissed her on the forehead too. she smiled and ran off into her room. i leaned over to dash and picked her up.

"what are you doing." she said through her laughter.

" i'm carrying my baby to bed" i said. i floated up the stairs with my wings and into our room. i dropped her on the bed and fell in it as well. i crawled over to her and put my face into her stomach. she giggled. "i love you" i said.

"what are you doing." she said laughing.

"sleeping." i said with my words being muffled by the hair in her stomach

"get your face out of my stomach." she said pushing my head away. i grabbed her hips to keep my face buried in her belly.

"no it's comfy." i said.

"at leastt don't talk into my belly" she said "it tickles" i turned my head and looked at her. she laughed.

"there used to be a baby in here." i said. "now it's downstairs." i said rubbing my ear on her stomach.

"what is with you." she said. "why are you acting so silly." she said.

"well why not." i said. i buried my face back into her stomach. "i'm happy."

"stop that." she said giggling again and pulling my head off of her stomach

i turned my head and unburied my face from her belly. i looked at her and she stared back at me. she laughed a bit and sat against the wall. she rubbed my head. slowly stroking my mane back. she took off my medal and threw it away.

"i can never understand you." she said

"thats good." i said in a very lax voice. "if you start to understand me then i become predictable and boring..."

"your not boring." she said.

"i used to be boring but i got bored of being boring so i became me." i said.

"what..." she said laughing. "what are you talking about."

"i don't know." i said she laughed. i pulled my head off of her stomach and rested it on the pillow next to her. she leaned off of the wall and joined me in the bed next to her. "i started playing with her hair."

"what are you doing now...i thought you were going to go to sleep." she said laughing.

"i was but i like your hair it's all...rainbowy. sometimes i look at it and i want to know how it works."

"you don't see me playing with your hair." she said swatting my hooves away.

"that's because my hair is boring."

"i thought you said you weren't boring." she said. i stared at her. she had me. i laughed and she did too. "are you going to sleep now." she said.

"yeah i won't keep you up anymore." i said. i leaned over and hugged her and held her tight. she nuzzled into my chest and closed her eyes. i put out the candles and closed my eyes as well. i slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

i was woken up to the sound of loud crying downstairs. i got up and so did dash.

"i got it baby." i said.

"thanks." she said. i climbed out of the bed and walked out of the room. i walked down the stairs and over into the babies room. i walked in and lit a candle to see. it took me a second for my eyes to adjust to the light. i walked over to the baby's crib. but she wasn't in there.

i immediately sprung to life. i looked all around me and noticed she was on the floor. i stared at her and wondered how she got there. i picked her up and calmed her down. i looked at the wings on her back. there's no way a brand new pegasus baby could have flown over the crib wall, let alone get enough wing power to even lift an inch off the ground.

i was a bit concerned. i kept her over my shoulder and she hugged me tight and smiled. i walked around the room and checked everywhere. nopony was here. i was beginning to become paranoid and i had a good reason to. i put the baby back into her crib and she drifted back off to sleep. i walked out of the room but i kept the candle on.

i walked into the living room and looked around. i walked around the furniture and looked behind the curtains. i walked over to the back door. it was open. i closed it and became more paranoid than before. but i could have left it open before.

i walked over to the front door. it was still locked and closed. i walked into the kitchen. i checked everywhere. i even slowly opened up scootaloo's door. i quietly walked in and looked around. still no other ponies. i walked out and closed the door. i walked upstairs and checked the bathroom. it was empty.

i walked out of the bathroom and back into the hall. i walked down the hall and opened the door to my study. i walked in there and realized that i don't use this room at all. i should fix that. i looked around but still nopony. i walked back downstairs and into the dawn's room. she was still in her crib but she was awake. she had her arms out like she was trying to grab something.

i looked up at the ceiling and around the room but there was nothing here. literally nothing. this room was empty except for her crib in the corner. i was becoming a bit concerned. i walked over and looked over the crib. she had a blank face like she was concentrating on something. i don't know what she was seeing but she wanted it. she looked over at me and seemed to snap out of her trance. she looked at me and smiled.

i smiled back at her not to worry her but i was concerned. something was wrong. i picked her up and held her. i patted her on the back and she burped. i smiled and she giggled. i went to walk out of the room and the candle flickered and went out. there weren't any open windows. i was afraid not for me but the baby. so i did something i haven't done in a year... i prayed.

"dear lord banish all evil from this house and protect this family. cover them in your light and watch over them. care not for me but my family for they are innocent." i said praying out loud. "Dominus enim domus vigilandum est et orandum... amen" and just like that the candle lit back up. i smiled. even in this world god could still hear me.

if you're wondering what that gibberish was it was a latin prayer. it roughly translates out to "lord watch and pray for this family." it was a sort of ancient prayer. i'm glad it worked. i walked over to the crib and set the baby down in the blankets. she giggled and sucked on her hoof again. she closed her eyes and fell to sleep.

it was evident that something was haunting this place. i had a feeling that it was connected to my own demons. i had a bad feeling that something like this was going to happen. i walked into the living room and searched through my bag. i pulled out my wifes cross. i hadn't touched this is forever. i walked back into the babies room.

i knelt down and put the cross to my forehead and i prayed to put an enchantment on it.

"benedic hoc crucem unde potest tueretur hominis editorem" i prayed. i could feel enlightenment coming from the room and the candle flickered and grew brighter. if you're wondering what the latin and praying is for it's because the world i grew up in was in a third enlightened era... praying and church was a big thing. i usually prayed in my head never out loud but outloud seemed to work.

"what are you doing." i head somepony say behind me. i looked back and saw dash. "you've been gone for half an hour and now you're down here speaking gibberish to that...cross i think."

"i'm just protecting my daughter." i said. i walked over and picked up the stuffed bear and undid the zipper in the back. i stuffed the cross inside and covered it with stuffing. i zipped the bear back up and placed it next to dawn. she rolled over and hugged the bear.

"no... i know you too well... there's something wrong isn't there." she said.

"don't worry about it." i said. dash shoved me.

"i will worry crimson she's my daughter too and i'm her mother now tell me."

"fine... when i came down here i saw her on the floor crying. there was nothing wrong with the crib it's solid as a rock and she definitely can't fly at this age. so i picked her up and looked around but nopony was here."

"oh my gosh." dash said covering her mouth.

"it gets worse." i said. "when i came back she was staring at the ceiling mindlessly trying to grab something and when i went to take her from the room... it's hard to explain but i think she might be haunted."

"don't say that." dash said shoving me. "don't you say that our baby is fine."

"this is why i didn't want you to know." i said "if she is haunted it might be my fault." i said trying to push her away from me so she can't shove me again. "it might be linked to my own demons." i said. "but she is safe for now." i said. i turned around to show dash but when i looked at the crib she wasn't there. my heart sank.

"DAWN." dash yelled running into the crib. "NO." she yelled. i ran into the house and flicked on every single candle the house lit up and i used my shadows to force all the doors and windows shut so nothing could get them out. i ran through the house and i came upon on shut door. i put my ear up to it and i heard whispering.

i tried the door but it was shut. i heard from inside the doorway.

"daddy is that you." said a rigid and cold voice. i thought it was scootaloo for a second and looked back but it wasn't. if i was correct this was the door to my cellar. i hadn't even been down there ever since i bought this house. i kicked the door down and slowly made my way down.

"crimson she's not in the house." said rainbow running over. "where are you-" she said but i cut her off.

"shhh" i said. walking down the stairs. i slowly made my way to the bottom. i looked around. it was dark but i could see. there were barrels everywhere and crates. a few piles of wood and a workbench with a variety of tools. i looked around and there was nopony down here.

"crimson...crimson i see her." said dash. when i heard those words i ran up the stairs. before i could reach the doorway the door swung closed and broke my snout. i yelled in pain and fell down the stairs. i hit the ground and went out.

****oh god why can't it ever be easy.


	38. Chapter 38: Orationem Deo

i woke up a few minutes later to the pounding of the cellar door. i ran up the stairs and tried to open it.

"crimson..." yelled dash. "crimson please be alright."

"daddy are you there... daddy please." said scootaloo.

"it's alright i'm fine... do you have dawn." i said.

"yes she is with me." said dash.

"alright dash and scootaloo you need to get out of the house right now." i said. "i don't care if you have to kick a door in or break a window just get out now." i said. i felt a sharp pain in my back almost like claws. i yelled in pain.

"crimson what's wrong." dash yelled.

"you have to get out NOW." i yelled. i could hear footsteps at the door and they grew fainter. that had gone like i told them to. i felt something grab me by the neck and throw me back down the stairs. i writhed in pain for a minute and looked around for some kind of light source. i looked over and saw a lantern . ran over and hoped. i turned the knob and it went ablaze. the cellar lit up like day. i looked around and i was the only on here.

"you think you are safe." said a raspy voice. i whipped the lantern around. "you are week and i will take from you what is mine." i felt a pain in my chest. it felt like a heart attack but worse. i could hear whispers from in the back of my head and they grew louder and more audible.

"ENOUGH" said the voices. something clicked in the back of my head and i fell to the ground. i closed my eyes and i passed out. i woke up in the same room but there was something different. i stood up but i was looking at myself. i looked over and saw the dark pony standing next to a smaller filly sized one.

"what... how." i stammered.

"we need to talk." he said.

"where am i... how are you free." i asked.

"this is not your inner plane this is the ether plane. i can leave to go here whenever i want but must return to you when you summon my power."

"so i'm here too... does that mean i'm dead." i asked.

"unfortunately not." said the demon. "i brought you here so we can talk... i'd like you to meet my son" he said picking up the smaller dark pony. "he is the demon binded to your child."

"i don't get it what's happening."

"foolish mortal don't you understand." he said yelling. the house shook violently and the roof above me started to crack and flake. "when you had relations with that pegasus and impregnated her with your seed you were using my powers for you're own lust and our genetics mixed."

"but how is that possible."

"fool if i tried to explain how that works we would be here for all eternity." said the demon shaking the house again. i heard a loud crash from upstairs and breaking glass. the ceiling cracked again "when you birthed that child of yours my own was birthed and is now under the control of your own child though she uses her powers without knowing."

"so she isn't going to be haunted like me." i said.

"no even though you're praying hurts us and muffles our own power she was the one. not a demon."

i tried to comprehend everything that was going on. the house shook again.

"stop destroying my house." i said.

"the futher my child grows from the living host the more unstable the area around him grows... i would wrap this up if i were you and get out while the house stands." he said

"alright bring me back." i said. he smiled and his eyes glowed a bright white. they flashed and the whole room went white.

"run fast and be strong." i could hear him say and he laughed as i slowly regained consciousness. i looked around and there was crashing all around me. i rushed up the stairs quickly and kicked open the door. i walked into the hall there was debris and pieces of the second floor everywhere. i tried walking through the shaking house but it was like trying to walk during an earthquake.

i managed to get into the living room. i room started to fall apart around me. the ceiling broke and my bed from upstairs fell and landed on me. i yelled in pain to the feeling of a few of my bones snapping. i tried to push the bed off of me but it wouldn't budge.

i tried to slip out but my legs got caught on the springs. i pulled and the springs just cut into my legs. i yelled in pain. i tried to shamble my legs around to free them as the house fell apart around me. i few boards fell from upstairs and landed on my back. the drawer in my room fell in front of me and the dresser next to me.

i pulled my legs again and they broke free. i couldn't move them. they were broken and terribly cut up. i tried to crawl away but there was too much rubble in the way. i tried to climb over it and more debris fell down and crushed me. i could see a small fire lighting in the kitchen. my eyes widened.

the fire hit the gas stove and there was an explosion. i sent me flying back into a wall which collapsed around me. there was fire everywhere now. i had shards of rubble and chunks of wood sticking out of my chest.

i tried my best to get up but i couldn't i was too hurt and there was too much debris everywhere. the house shuttered horribly and finally collapsed. i rolled over onto my back and covered my head. the house fell on me and snapped almost every bone in my body. one piece of furniture fell on my right wing and crushed it.

i yelled out in pain a the house fell on top of me. i was buried alive and it was dark. i tried to concentrate to use my powers but i was too weak. i felt something sharp sticking into my chest. i looked down and saw stuffing everywhere. i made a bit of a pocket of living space in the debis. i shifted around a bit and saw my cross sticking into my chest.

i ripped it from my chest and blood spurted out of it. i held it close and did the only thing i could think to do which was pray

"deum salvum me" i said. it was "god save me.". i repeated that phrase over and over until everything went black. i fell probably dead. but when the darkness passed there was a light. i awoke.

i was in a hospital... in my world, this was real. i looked around i was human. i was also horribly injured. there were wrappings all over my body. i looked around. this can't be real i thought i'm dreaming. i moved my hand along the covers of the hospital bed and it felt real. i started to tear up. the door swung open at the end of the hospital room and a doctor walked in. he looked at me and stepped back.

"you're awake... thank god." he said. "you've taken quite the beating Mr. Wesson. how are you feeling." he said looking over a few things in his clip board.

"what... where am i..." i rubbed my head. "what happened." i said.

"you're at mercy hospital." he said "when you were at work you suffered an accident involving the government funded dream arch... it malfunctioned and exploded. before it destructed it sent out a wave of energy and sent you out of the blast radius and into a wall. you've been in a coma for just a bit over a year." he said.

"what... no this...can't be real." i said. he smiled.

"it's not." he said. the room went black again and i went numb. i was abit shocked to see things change but i was confused the most. why did that just happen. that couldn't be real i... i can feel everything. the pain, the pleasure, and the laughter of my friends... this is real, and i won't let it be taken from me.

i opened my eyes i was in my destroyed house being crushed by a ton of wood and debris. i tried getting up and i couldn't. i was getting angry and i don't know why. maybe i just wouldn't let myself die. i could hear a voice in the back of my head.

"HAHAHA mayhaps you are a worthy host... i unlock for you my full power use it wisely... many a mare and stallion have fallen to it. i know i have." i closed my eyes and i felt a great power wash over me. my eyes glowed the darkest of black. i grit my teeth and the sharpened into fangs and my tongue split and became forked.

my body was covered in darkness and my wounds healed. my body took shape to a more evil form. spikes jolted out of my body and my mane turned into some kind of shadow that moved like fire. my ears were pointed and my muscles became more dense. i took a deep breath and exhaled. the air around me burned and became burning hot.

some of the darkness had started to leak off of my body and pool on the ground. i pushed up on the debris above me and got onto my own hooves. i bent down and pushed up. the debris on my back had flown from on top of me and light soon flooded around me. it was morning. i must have been out for a while.

i extended my wings and they were as big as two ponies each. i flew up from the pit of debris and roared into the air. i looked down and saw my own pool of shadows start to spread like a virus. i looked over and there were ponies with water buckets putting out fires. they stopped when they saw me.

there were ponies pulling debris from the destroyed house. they stopped when they saw me. and there were my friends standing and worrying. they stopped when they saw me. i stopped when i looked at myself. what have i become.

i gently flew over to the crowd of ponies and over to the edge of the rubble. they all back up. i looked over to dash. she was awestruck. she was holding my child. my little dawn knew it was her daddy. she smiled and tried to reach for me. i let the power drain from my body. the shadows fell away and you could see all the damage done to me. in an instant all the pain caught up to my body and i fainted.

i hit the ground and everything went black again. i figured that when i woke up i would have a lot of explaining to do. eventually i did wake up though but not entirely. i could just make out everything around me but i could not open my eyes.

"what happened." i heard a familiar voice say. i made it out to be twilight.

"i don't know we were sleeping in bed and the baby started crying downstairs and somethings lead to another and i guess there was some trouble with a demon or something." said dash. she seemed to be crying.

"do you think it has anything to do with his own demons." i heard rarity say.

"i would guess so. but why hasn't this happened before." i heard a bit of whimpering and noise. it sounded like... dawn.

"did y'all really think it was a good idea to bring your baby here." said applejack. i guess i really was hearing dawn.

"she cries constantly when he isn't around i don't know why she is so attached to him. it scares me sometimes." said dash. i wanted to say something but i couldn't. i tried to get up but i only shuffled in my bed.

"oh i think he's conscious." said twilight "crimson if you can hear us do something." she said. i couldn't open my eyes or speak but i grit my teeth and shuffled again. "alright i think he is conscious." i tried to speak but i just grunted.

"i'm afraid of him." said fluttershy. she seemed distant. "can i please go."

"you saw him he's the same guy." said applejack.

"yeah but now he's super duper scary and stuff with big wings and fangs and pointy spike coming out of his back." said pinkie.

"pinkie you're not helping" said twilight. "and fluttershy were his friends we should be here. he is obviously in a lot of pain right now." she said. i wasn't actually in pain but my whole body was numb... but i'm sure that won't last long.

i felt something lean against me it was soft and warm. i think it was rainbow dash. i could feel her hot breath against my chest and her tears on my stomach. she was obviously troubled. i can't blame her... i'm the worst husband. although i'm sure that all of this will end soon and we can put it behind us

"oh crimson." she said. she didn't sound sad. "i don't know what to do anymore. this is a lot to take in and i'm so confused... why does this happen to you... i'm not afraid for us i'm worried about you." she said. "i know as long as we're with you everything will be alright for us but i'm concerned that someday you're not going to get up from the wreckage and my children will be without a father."

"dash don;t say that."

"i'm not mad at him... he loves me and i love him too. sometimes i scare myself when i think about what i would do for him... and he does everything he can for me."

"we know dash... y'all are going to be alright. he's going to survive. he always does." said applejack.

"it's kinda funny." she said giving a little snicker. "how things can change in a heartbeat... you keep your head in the light when everything important happens in the shadows behind your back."

i tried to say something but i just grunted and moaned again. i could feel the numbness fade and a faint pain grew over my body... it grew until it was extreme and i grunted and shook from the pain.

"oh baby... why do you do this." said dash. i tried my best to speak and i got a few words out.

"because i must." i said in a whispery and raspy voice. i fell back down and let the pain wash over me until it became natural.

"oh celestia he is awake." she said. "crimson can you hear me say something."

"dash he's not that awake... those three words alone must have burned like hell." said twilight.

"crimson can you hear me... i have your daughter." said dash. i felt small hooves on my chest and it hurt. the trotted around and she laid down on my stomach... that didn't hurt as much since i don't have bones in my stomach but i probably had a few large gashed. i imagined i was covered in bandages since i couldn't actually feel her.

"i felt my stomach grow warmer and warmer. the warmth traveled up through my body down to my hooves and up to my head. i filled me and i opened my eyes. i looked over to see my friends sitting over me smiling. most of them had tears in their eyes. especially dash.

i felt like all the pain had washed away and there was only warmth. i looked down to see my baby girl sleeping snugly on the bandages wrapped around my stomach. i looked at myself i was a wreck.

"oh thank celestia you're awake." said dash.

"umm the doctors weren't able to fix you completely." said twilight pointing to my arm. i looked over and cringed. it was compound fractured and you could see the bone sticking out of the arm. how could they ignore that. i ignore it however too. it didn't hurt.

i grabbed my baby dawn and picked her up. she woke up and smiled. she reached out to try and hug me and i pulled her into a hug. as i bent my arm there was a crack in my elbow and i grunted and grit my teeth. i didn't want to yell in pain right in my baby's ear.

"maybe you should take it easy." said dash.

"i'm fine..." i said. i patted my baby on the back and put her down on my stomach again. she crawled her way over to my face and smiled. she tried to climb on top of my face but fell back over onto my chest. she giggled and laughed. she was so innocent. it was cute. whenever something happened she would giggle, laugh and smile. i wish things could be just that simple.

"she really is your daughter." said twilight. "she's fearless and fun at the same time."

"i guess she is like her father." said dash.

"you have no idea." i said quietly. dawn rolled around on my chest and then got back up. she looked over to her mother and smiled. she crawled over and dash picked her up. "does she really cry when i'm gone" i asked.

"not just when you're gone but when you're hurt too." said twilight.

"when they were carrying you away from the wreckage she kept trying to reach for you... she almost fell out of my arms. when i pulled her back she cried. she loves you the most."

"no no baby she loves you too." i said. "she just doesn't want me to get hurt... she didn't cry when i left for the store... or when i went outside with scootaloo... or when we went to bed." i said.

"i guess you're right... this baby is something special." said dash holding up her baby. dawn smiled and wiggled her arms. she brought the baby closer to her and kissed her tummy. dawn giggle and waver her arms some more. i couldn't bring myself to telling the others what really happened that night in the cellar.

i figured that i could let these things unfold and reveal themselves in time. and when they do everything will be alright. i looked around me and i could feel a few minor waves of pain rushing back over my body. i stretched my arms and i hit the bone sticking out of my arm on the bed. i grit my teeth and yelled.

"maybe we should get the doctor." said twilight.

"nah i just need some rubbing alcohol and a cloth and i can fix it." i said.

"crimson i'm not going to give you those things." said twilight.

"found em" said pinkie popping out of nowhere with a bottle of clear rubbing alcohol and a cloth.

"thanks pinkie." i said grabbing the alcohol and cloth from her. i took a swig of the rubbing alcohol.

"are you fucking crazy." said twilight.

"hey... my baby is right there, watch the language." i said "and to answer your question, yes... yes i am." i said. "now if any of you a squeamish and or don't want to see a grown stallion cry i suggest you leave." i said.

"what the hey are you doing." said applejack

"don't worry i've done this before on the battlefield." i said "but without the alcohol." i bit down on the rag and sunk my teeth into it. i grabbed the edge of the bone and grunted in pain. i forced it down and aligned it with the rip in the skin. i yelled in pain and tears rolled down my face.

"alright stop this." said dash. too late. i shoved the bone back into place and it was no longer sticking out of my arm. i yelled in pain and proceeded to bleed. i took the rubbing alcohol and poured it on my arm. i yelled in pain and the baby started crying.

i spit out the gag and reached for the baby. i looked at her.

"don't cry my little dawn. daddy's alright."

"you're fucking crazy." said twilight in a mundane voice

"hey language." i said. "and look it's getting better." i said pointing to it. my shadows had started to cover my body and fix the wounds. "see everything is alright."

"alright but you're still insane."

i know." i went to get up but dash pushed me back into the bed.

"promise me you'll stay in the hospital this time and heal normaly." she said.

"dash why would i do that when i can heal like myself." i said. she just stared at me with a concerned face. "oh my god... you're afraid something else is going to happen." i said.

"no no it's not that." she said.

"yes it is..." i said getting up. "you think that wherever i go pain and misery follows. you're afraid that something IS going to happen."

"crimson please it's not like that." she said.

"dash i can't be mad at you but i can't help but feel hurt that you would think this." i said. i meant every word. " alright... i'll take it easy for a while until things fall into place."

"listen to me..." she said with tears in her eyes. " i don't want you to go...thats what i've been trying to say...if you go out quickly you'll only get hurt again and wind up back here... or worse." she said. she started to tear up. little dawn looked over her shoulder to hr crying mother and frowned she tried to grab the tears falling from her mothers face.

i was acting like an asshole...the entire time, i was selfish and reckless. maybe it's time to calm down. i walked over and hugged dash. i few tears escaped my face too.

"i'm sorry dash... alright i'm not going to stay in the hospital but i'll settle down and be the father i should be."

"thank you." she said.

"i think you two need to get home." said twilight. "and you should get some rest." she said to me.

"alright..."i said looking at twilight. i turned back to dash."at least let me fix the house."

"celestia had heard what happened and she fixed the house..."

"that sounds a little too convenient." i said.

"well everything that was not made in equestria couldn't be fixed but not all of those things broke." she said. we started walking out of the door and down the hallway.

"so what was lost." i asked.

"mainly you're old stuff and a few of the potions you made."

"so everything is pretty much the same." i asked.

"pretty much." said dash leaning against could lean against me now because she wasn't so big as from when she was pregnant. we walked out of the hospital and i tried to stretch my wings out but they were completely numb.

"maybe we can just walk." i said.

"that sounds wonderful." she said. before we could leave my other friends came outside.

"are you sure you'll both be fine." said rarity. dash looked down to little dawn who she was holding in her wings.

"yeah we'll be fine... i think the worst is over."

"alright." said applejack. "you two take care ya hear." she said tipping her hat and walking away. the others followed her except twilight. she walked over.

"now that they are gone i have to talk to you about something." said twi. she reached into her bag and pulled out my wifes cross.

"my cross." i said.

"everypony said that all of that stuff would have killed you...but it didn't. and after we started sifting through rubble we found this under a pile of burning wood. it was covered in blood and completely untouched."

"how is that possible." said dash. "that's from your world not ours it shouldn't work here."

"i have no idea what sort of omniscient being you've been talking to but he's listening. an he is quite powerful."

"that being you're referring to is god." i said taking the cross from her hoofs. it radiated with some kind of power.

"you know i've been lying i haven't actually read that book you gave me the first time we met... i thought it was a whole bunch of nonsense... but you may have something here."

"alright twilight you do that." i said we turned around and walked away. but i turned my head one last time. "and twilight remember...it's a true story." i said smiling and me and dash left. we walked down the street and back to my house. it was good as new. i walked in and everything was new.

it was clean it was roomy and neat. it felt like home. i walked over to the living room and i was bombarded by my other child scootaloo. she jumped at me and i caught her. she smiled and i smiled back.

"daddy you're back." she said

"yes sweetie i am." i said. i rubbed her head and let her down. "now daddy's tired and in pain as well so i need to get my rest... why don't you go play with your friends." i said.

"alright daddy." she said. she ran out the door.

"be home by eight." said dash. no response. "she'll be fine" she said turning her attention back to me. i had already made my way up the stairs. she quickly walked up besides me. i got a stitch in my leg and almost fell down the stairs but dash caught me.

"thanks baby." i said. we made it up the stairs and into the bedroom. i got on the bed and laid down. dash got in the bed next to me and laid down. she was still holding baby dawn.

"i love you." dash said to me.

"i love you too dashie" i said giving her a kiss on the cheek. little dawn started to make a few giggles and cute baby noises. she crawled away from dashes wings and crawled over to me.

i pressed my stomach up to dashes so she could cross. she crawled over onto my stomach and fell down on my belly. she made a cute little grunt and laughed. she rolled onto her side and started to suck her hoof.

"how has she been." i said.

"she's been good. she eats sleeps and soils herself like a regular baby but she feels different."

"she's different because she inherited it."

"i wonder who from." said dash smiling. she leaned her head against mine and we watched the baby sleep.

"i wish my life could be as simple and carefree as a babies sometimes." i said.

"that would be a nice change." said dash. she looked up at me and smiled. "you know we still have yet to be married." she said.

"i think i know what our next big adventure is." i said.

"when can we start." said dash smiling.

"tomorrow we can start looking for a wedding planner." i said grabbing dashes hoof. i closed my eye's

"if you're going to go to sleep let me grab dawn so you don't roll her over." said dash.

"alright" i said. she picked up dawn and put her over her shoulder. she carried her out of the room and i slowly closed my eyes. i started to drift off to sleep. i felt something else move into the bed. it was probably dash.

i could feel cold hooves wrap themselves around me and the soft tone of a beating heart. it was dash... i knew the sound of her heart from anywhere. it was strong but peaceful at the same time. it slowly put me to sleep and i was out like a light.

****

-Authors Note: alright guys stuff has happened... and to be honest I've only got ideas for the next chapter then it's nightmare night. so really guys if you have any ideas for chapters or want to suggest something please do so. i'm burning myself out here. the wedding chapter is going to be short and with few dialogue... i'm working on sort of a romantic approach for this one.-End of Note.-


	39. Chapter 39: Here Comes The Bride

i slowly opened my eyes and yawned. i looked around and it was still dark. i looked behind me and rainbow dash wasn't in bed. i could hear a few noises downstairs. i pulled the covers off of me and got out of bed. my legs and back were killing me.

i walked over to the door and it was already open. i walked out and into the hallway. i walked down the stairs and saw a light on in the babies room. i walked in and saw dash kneeling down next to the babies crib. she had her hands cupped and she was murmuring something to herself. is she doing what i think she's doing. i listened closer.

"dear...uhm...god... i don't know if you really can hear me or if you actually exist...but i need all the help i can get and i don't know really how this prayer stuff works but i...i just don't know what to do anymore." she said. she hung her head even lower. "i didn't expect my life to change like this and now that it's happened i need help... so please help me... uh... bye i guess." i spoke up.

"dominus audire sua oratione," i said. dash looked back in surprise "lord hear her prayer." i walked over and knelt down beside her. "i know this is tough for you dash but the hard part is over. in a few years she'll be in school and we can have the days to ourselves."

"i hope this does get better... i'm beat."

"don't worry... no more surprises i promise. were gonna be a family and live like one. and soon we'll be married remember." i said rubbing against dash. she giggled.

"how could i forget." said dash. she rubbed against me too. we watched the baby as she slept. "c'mon lets go back to bed. and maybe tomorrow we can plan the wedding." she said.

"that would be wonderful." i said. i got up and she did too. she walked out of the room and i blew out the candle and left as well. i walked out of the room and up the stairs to the bedroom. dash hopped into the bed and i did the same. i pulled the covers over us and closed my eyes.

"goodnight crimson." said dash.

"goodnight rainbow." i said. i closed my eyes and fell asleep.

a bit of time passed and me and dash planned our wedding. like i promised to the princess the wedding was going to be in canterlot and the princess would wed us. we invited our friends and dash invited her family. a few people in the town where coming to see and of course if the princess is going to be there so will all of canterlot.

on the week before the wedding we got ready. rarity made our dresses. i have yet to see rainbow dash's dress because it's bad luck. but rarity made me a stunning suit. she even made little dresses for scootaloo and dawn. pinkie and applejack were in charge of the party and catering. and twilight and fluttershy were in charge of planning and ambiance.

the wedding was today and we were being carriaged to canterlot separately. we would see each other once the wedding started. the chariot dropped me off at the castle and i went to the grooming room. i went in and freshened up. put on deodorant, cleaned my teeth, and had a mint. i was ready.

twilight and the others were in the great hall. fluttershy was watching over dawn. we had asked her to babysit before and dawn has grown fond of fluttershy. and fluttershy loves to watch over little dawn. i finished getting ready and i put my suit on. i was so happy.

i put on my bowtie and the flour on my suit. the door swung open and it was twilight she told me to hurry up it was starting soon. i walked out and onto the stage. i walked over and took my place before the princess. everypony was being talkative. i felt like forever but then music started playing and everypony was silent. the doors swung open and revealed a very beautiful rainbow dash.

her gown was as white as the clouds we used to lay on and her fur was as blue as the sky the clouds would float in. she looked simply amazing as she slowly walked over. scootaloo and her friends were the flower girls. they hopped around swinging their baskets so that the rose petals would fly out and onto the floor. i looked at dash and smiled. she smiled too.

she made her way over and stood next to me. we looked at each other. i smiled at her and she at me. the princess cleared her throat and started reading the wedding rites. they sounded different from the ones on earth but the same more or less.

"we have gathered here today to join these two pegasus ponies, crimson blast and rainbow dash, in loving matrimony." said the princess. " if anypony has an objection speak now or forever hold your peace."

there was a silence among the crowd. i smiled and so did dash. the princess cleared her throat again and spoke up.

"do you crimson blast, take this mare rainbow dash to be your lawfully wedded wife, " she said.

"i do." i replied.

" through sadness and sorrow will you stay by her and help her find the light." she said.

"i do."

"and will you protect her and the family against all dangers."

"i do." i said. she smiled and looked over to dash.

"rainbow dash do you take this stallion crimson blast to be you're lawfully wedded husband."

"i do." she said

"do you promise to keep your family happy and whole through the rough and rugged challenges." she asked rainbow.

"i do." said dash.

"do you promise to stand by them through sickness and through health." said the princess.

"i do." said dash. she looked over at me and i looked at her and smiled.

"then by the powers bestowed upon me i hereby pronounce you husband and wife... may you carry on in happiness and health through all challenges life may throw at you." she said. she smiled. "you may kiss the bride."

i leaned in and gave dash the biggest kiss ever on her lips. she closed her eyes and moved closer to me. i closed my eyes too. the crowd cheered and music started playing again. i opened my eyes and pulled away. dash smiled at me and i smiled back. we looked over the crowd of ponies and smiled.

we both looked back at each other and kissed again. dash pulled away and stared at me.

"i love you crimson." she said.

"i love you too dash." i said. we both walked down the steps and down the aisle. ponies threw rice and flowers at us. i didn't think that would happen. dash took her bouquet and threw it into the crowd. i didn't wee who caught it. we walked outside and there were decorations and party supplies all around for the party.

there were lights and candles everywhere in the garden. there was even a DJ booth. and guess who was DJ...vinyl scratch. see looked over at us and smiled. the other ponies flooded into the garden and the party began.

me and dash danced with each other and our friends joined us. we were congratulated by everypony who could get to us. eventually a slow song came on and the lights dimmed. the couples danced together. i leaned over on rainbow and she put her head on my shoulder. i put my head on hers and we started swaying to the song.

a lot of ponies showed up. even princess luna came over. but she didn't talk to anypony but celestia. even then she only stayed for the remainder of the song and took off into the watch tower. the song ended and me and dash kissed.

soon after the wonderbolts flew over to greet us. they weren't in their uniforms but we still recognized them.

"congratulations guys." said spitfire. "i always thought you guys would have something special..." she said.

"yeah you two do make an amazing couple." said soarin. we both smiled.

"thanks guys." said rainbow dash. she smiled at me and i gave her a peck on the cheek. they smiled and walked away. soon my friends came and joined us.

"congrats y'all." said applejack

"yeah this is a real special moment probably the most important of your lives." said twilight.

"so where's the honey moon." said pinkie. "oh oh it could be at my house. we could have a party." i laughed. so did rainbow dash. "what's so funny."

"pinkie i don't think you get what a honeymoon is." i said.

"yeah it's like a party on your marriage right." she said. twilight rolled her eyes and whispered into pinkies ear. her expression immediately changed. "oh...oh no never mind you guys can do that at your own house."

"glad you understand pinkie." said dash smiling.

"speaking of honeymoon's"said twilight. she handed me a potion bottle and whispered into my ear. "it's a natural spermicide...don't want another accident." she whispered. i blushed and i think dash heard too because she kinda moved her attention away from us also blushing.

"uhm gee thanks...twilight it's uh...thoughtful...i guess." i said putting the spermicide in my bags. it was a smart idea though...can't believe i didn't think of that before.

soon the party started to die down and people started leaving. even the wonderbolts had to go. we said our goodbye's to everypony and soon enough it was me, dash, my friends and the princess...and spike...spike was there too.

the princess had called a carriage to take us to a honeymoon sweet all they way in manehattan. it was a very kind gesture that we generously accepted. fluttershy agreed to watch over scootaloo and baby dawn while we were gone.

me and dash got into the cart and said goodbye to everypony and the cart took off. it was going to be a five hour ride and we already had a room for ourselves. when we were in the clear dash leaned over and kissed me on the lips.

she pulled away after a few minutes and smiled. she leaned her head against me and sighed.

"you make me so happy." she said.

"i aim to please." i replied.

"so are you ready for one hell of a week." she said blushing and giving me a lustful smile. i laughed a bit.

"depends...i can go for hours... exactly how ready are you."

"i've been waiting 6 months for you to take me... i'm ready." she said.

"i've been waiting just as long remember..." i smiled and sliped over under her. she was sitting on my lap now and i was kissing her on the neck. she started giggling.

"well i'm not letting you leave the room until i lose all feeling below my waist." she said smiling.

"is that a challenge or a task." i said smiling.

"it's a threat." she said smiling. i laughed.

"i don't know it doesn't sound very threatening." i said. she laughed too. i yawned and rested my head on dashes shoulder.

"we should get our sleep i guess."

"and remember it's a romantic honeymoon not just a sexual one." i said. "maybe we can enjoy ourselves as well."

"i know... it was a joke." she said. "so did you remember the spermicide twilight gave you." said dash.

"so you did hear that." i said.

"every word." she said. i laughed.

"yeah i got it right here." i said reaching into my bag and pulling out the bottle of blue liquid. "and as i quote 'we don't want another accident.'" i said making an impression of twilight's voice. it was a bad impression and dash laughed. i laughed with her and threw the bottle back into the bag.

she leaned against me and rested her head. i kept mine on her shoulder and we soon started to doze off. this was one of the happiest moment of my life in equestria. i hope it does get better from here. and man am i going to enjoy the honeymoon.


	40. Chapter 40: Sanders Log

-IMPORTANT READ FIRST-

-this chapter is a series of excerpts from the logbook of Derek sanders. he is a personal friend of Alex Wesson, the hero of our story and plays from the beginning of the story to up until now. the logs are dated and put in for literal effect. this chapter is one entire case of foreshadowing-

-Chapter inspired by the idea's of Picklemonman-

-Sanders Log: 9/24/2156: today is the day. me and my buddy alex are going into a the arch... bunch of bullshit if you ask me. i hate the crap these guys make us do but it pays the bills. were about five minutes from launch and they just geared us up...lotta gear for something that might not exist but they already explained this stuff. a bunch of bullshit about it being...dangerous... i guess there's only one way to find out huh, i pray this works.- End of Log.

-Sanders Log:10/3/2156: shit man we fucked up... we fucked up big time. the thing just fucking sucked in Alex and then exploded. we've been trapped in this fucking bunker for ten days now and food is low. there's no more clean water and frankly it smells like shit. i...i just hope the thing worked and wherever Alex is he's better off than we are now... they say the explosion was nuclear and that it may have destroyed most of Arizona... i'm lucky that my wife and kids are on vacation in Hawaii...thank god, but Alex...shit.-End of Log.

-Sanders Log:10/8/2156: we finally got out through the air shaft. surprisingly the explosion was not nuclear. it did destroy everything in sight though. but to everyone's surprise the ark is still standing completely untouched. i told them we should destroy it but they just got angry. bunch of fucking egg heads. they put science before god and look where it has gotten us now.- End of Log.

-Sanders Log:2/24/2157: after the army got word of what happened they sent over a bunch of special forces guys. i'm black ops...that's pretty high up and i'm being given orders by these guys. whatever it is it's important. they had banned all recordings and surveillance so i can't keep putting in log time. but i can try.-End of Log.

-Sanders Log:4/13/2157: fucking hell. they've already built another base around the arch and they have it sealed tighter than the president's bunker. they rebuilt the arch completely and they have it connected to some kind of power source I've never even heard of. i got a peek at it and it's like some kind of blue glowing crystal. I've been put on guard duty so i stand out in the hot sun all day with the rooks that managed to get to the bunker as well... they said i'm lucky to be alive... but they said that could change...i better stay in line.-End of Log.

-Sanders Log:8/19/2157: they caught a rookie trying to escape into the desert yesterday and they hunted him down. when they brought him back to the base they had him almost dead. they revived and healed him just so they could torture him... i stay up all night hearing his screams... i don't get much sleep anymore. Alex buddy i hope you're alright.- End of Log.

-Sanders Log:8/26/2157: i'm starting to go crazy. they finally finished the arch and they've started testing on it. everyday they throw something into it. and everyday they throw something bigger into it. I've heard they have it calibrated to where it sent Alex they also started bringing in more people. i guess there replacements for the prisoners... poor rooks.-End of log.

****

-Sanders Log:9/23/2157: they said any human testing would disrupt the vorpal balance or whatever and it would explode again. I've got a crazy idea. i've been acting good so far and they trust me. they have me stationed closer to the arch and if i keep it up i might even be able to get into the reactor room where the arch is. Alex buddy i'm coming for you... i need to get out of this place.-End of Log.


	41. Chapter 41: HoneyMoon Special

-**WARNING: There is a lot of sex in this chapter... Reader discretion is advised.-**

"oh god." i yelled as i fell down on the bed next to rainbow dash. i grabbed a cloth and wiped up the mess and laid down next to her. she rolled over and kissed me.

"that was the best run yet." she said smiling.

"are your legs numb yet." i asked taking deep breaths.

"not yet big boy." she said pulling me back on top of her. "keep trying." she said. i fell down on top of her.

"i've been on top for the last 20 runs... i think it's my turn to have some fun." i said.

"this isn't fun." she said smiling.

"the first 10 times was fun... now it gets tiring... how much energy do you think i have in me."

"just one more time." she said. i sighed.

"alright one more time then i'm going to collapse." i said. i pulled myself up and started to grab my cock. i rubbed it until it was at full length. i aligned it with dash's pussy and she bit her lip.

i pushed my schlong into her lower lips and she smiled. i grabbed her hips and slowly started thrusting my own hips. i was so tired but it felt good. and this is only the third day into the honeymoon. there's still 4 more days after tonight. i looked down at the horribly stained sheets. i'd hate to be the guy to clean this up.

i started to pick up the pace and dash started groaning and grunting. i got a stitch in my side and grit my teeth. i slowed down a little so it would go away. dash didn't seem to like me slowing down. she started to buck her hips and that was a sign for me to speed up.

i started pumping faster and faster. i could feel a pressure build up in me and i moaned. i didn't have much energy left but i kept going. the pressure started to build up and grow stronger. dash let out a loud moan and released her juices onto my groin. how does she just get off that easily.

i finally burst after another minute and filled her up with my semen. good thing i did take that spermicide with me. i fell back onto the floor and i was on my back with my lower body almost numb. dash crawled over and giggled. she brought her head over to me and used her tongue to clean up the mess on my crotch.

i summoned all the energy i had left in my body and climbed back onto the bed. i laid my head on the pillow and i laid on my back. dash crawled over and onto my stomach.

"no... you have defeated me." i said in a fake voice. she giggled. "i have no more control over my own body i am yours." i said fake fainting.

"oh i have plans for you." she said.

"whatever you do just don't have your way with me." i said in the fake voice again. she smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"too bad." she said.

"oooh noooo." i said in a faint voice and smiled. she crawled down me and started to stroke my still hard shaft with her tongue. it felt good to be pleasured now. she brought her head up and down on the top. she flicked the tip with her tongue and started sucking.

she sucked me off for the next few minutes and i finally came. she swallowed most of it and then started riding me. she rid me all night long. or so it felt. i counted at least 7 times but i lost count. i think she was done too. i came one last time and she fell on top of me with my shaft still in her pussy. she closed her eyes and started drooling. i think she has had enough.

"i think that's enough evil plotting for today." she said.

"you're a cruel mare." i said.

"don't make me gag you." she said. i laughed and she rested her head on my chest. "how much of the honeymoon is left." she asked being serious now.

"about four days left after tonight. we leave on thursday." i said.

"oh man that means we're missing nightmare night this year." she said.

"would you rather dress up and get candy all night long. or get naked and suck on one big lollipop all night long." i said with a smile. she burst out laughing.

"you drive a hard bargain." she said. she rubbed my chest and closed her eyes. i was going to pull the sheets over us but they were so... ehh. i'd rather not right now. besides my body temperature was warm enough from all the...activity.

i rested a hoof an dash's back and closed my eyes. i slowly drifted off to sleep and smiled. it was going to be a long four days. i hope everypony is having fun in ponyville. i don't want to think about it though because then i start thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong.

i woke up the next day and it was about nine. i was about to get up when i realized something disturbing... how did i just get up at nine. i went to get up but i couldn't move. dash wasn't on top of me anymore and i could hear running water in the bathroom. she was showering.

i could move my front hooves but my back hooves and my pelvis were completely immobile. i sat up and that's all i could do. i took my hoof and started to punch my legs. just as i thought they were completely numb.

i tried to move them and they wouldn't budge so i laid back down and stared at the ceiling. i could hear the water stop in the bathroom and the curtains swing open. it was another minute before dash walked out of the bathroom still damp and smiled at me. she walked over to the bed and sat down next to me.

"hey there." she said. "what's on today's agenda." she said.

"i don't know." i said.

"c,mon you need to get up and shower." she said.

"i can't"

"why not."

"my legs are... completely numb." i said.

"so you can't move." said dash.

"yes."

"and you're stuck there." she said with a strange smile.

"yes." i said questionably raising an eyebrow. she bit her lip and it clicked "no no no wait." but it was too late she pounced on me. she had me pinned by my shoulders. she turned around and stuck her flank in front of my face.

she laughed and brushed her tail away giving me a good view of her privates. she brought her butt down on my face and started rubbing her pussy on my snout.

i restrained for a while but eventually admitted defeat and started to lap away at her lower lips. she sighed and rested her pussy on my snout. i couldn't tell but i think the was playing with my junk as well. i was still numb.

she started grinding against my face and moaning. i don't think she was playing with my stuff... i think it was for her pleasure. i guess this is what i get for admitting my weaknesses to her. though if this is how she takes advantage of them i'm not complaining.

the inner walls of her vagina started to secret fluids. i hungrily lapped them up and soon i was a mess with them. i could feel her juices dribbling down my face and she continued to moan. she eventually let out another moan and splashed my face with fluids. i pulled my snout from her pussy and took a deep breath.

"alright dash you've had your fun now get off of me." i said.

"oh no. if you want out you're going to have to push me off of you." she said looking back and smiling with a fake evil smile. she slammed her pussy back down onto my snout and i sighed. i began to eat her out again.

it was about 15 minutes later and 8 climaxes and i still didn't have any feeling in my legs. i tried to shake her off with my upper body but she was heave and she had her hooves wrapped around me too.

i was stuck here like this. and it wasn't until 15 minute later that i did start to regain feeling in my legs but it wasn't much. i could just barely move them and it still wasn't enough. she had her head down and after the 25th climax she had fallen limp. but she was still too much to move without my full strength. the only thing she did was make sex noises.

eventually the only thing i could taste was her and my tongue was becoming sore. i soon reverted to just rubbing my snout up and down in her nose but she caught on and started to grind her hips against me so i started using my tongue again.

oh there will be consequences when i get out of this... there will be consequences. and they will be dire indeed. i was slowly regaining feeling in my legs. it took another 10 minutes before i had complete feeling in my legs. i brought my snout out of her pussy and spoke up.

"alright dash..." i said "my turn" i said a my eyes lit up black and tentacles shot out from all corners and picked her up. i brought her over to me and smiled. she was a bit surprised. i brought her head down to my dick which was nice and hard. i pushed it up against her and she opened up. i forced her onto me with my shadows and i even brought a few over to her puss y and anus.

i had her covered in tentacles. i could feel everything and it was awesome. best part is that i don't have to move a muscle. i stuffed two tentacles into her vagina and one big one up her ass. i did that while making her suck me off.

that continued for at least two hours. i came at least 30 times and when i was done and thought she had enough i let her go and she hit the bed. i rolled her over and hugged her. she had an awestruck look on her face. she was completely covered in semen. i laughed.

"what just happened" she said staring blankly at the ceiling with her eyes wide open.

"i just won." i said. she didn't move. "hey...are you alright." i said.

"that...was... amazing." she said.

"i agree." i said resting back and laying my head on my hooves. " and it's only like 4" i said.

"i can't feel my legs." said dash.

"oh you can't can't huh." i said with an evil look on my face.

"oh no." she said looking at me. i laughed.

"no i'm done... i think you've learned your lesson." i said. i used a few shadows to pick her up and bring her over to the couch.

"what are we doing here." she said.

"i'm changing the sheets." i said as i used my shadowy appendages to undo the sheets on the bed and grab spare ones from the closet. i did the sheets and the bed looked as good as new. i went over to the kitchen area and got some food and two drinks. i came back and started eating some of the food. i could still taste rainbow dash...i think the taste was stained in my mouth now.

"hey don't hog all the food" she said. i handed her a muffin but she dropped it when i put it in her hooves. "i can't really feel my hooves either." i sighed. i picked up the muffin and brought it to her face. she took a bite and i put it down on the table. she swallowed.

"am i going to have to feed you now." i said. i took a drink of the lemonade i grabbed.

"i can't taste it." she said. "all i taste is you." she was sticking out her tongue.

"yeah the feeling is mutual." i said. i brought some lemonade over to her. i walked into the kitchen and grabbed a straw and came back. "here the lemonade helps." i said and she started to guld down the lemonade through the straw.

"you're right it does." she said. we finished our food together and i picked her up again. "where are we going now." she said.

"we're going to wash up." i said. i carried her into the bathroom and started up the shower. i washed up and i had to wash her too. we did get a bit out of hand when it came to the washing. i guess she's not completely numb down there.

after i we finished washing up i turned of the shower and carried her out. i dried us both off and carried her into the main room. i plopped her down on the bed and she laid there. i jumped in the bed and laid down next to her. i looked over to her and smiled.

well you don't disappoint." said dash "you managed to fuck me until i lost all feeling in my legs."

"that means so much to me." i said. she laughed and i did too.

"so what now." she said.

"why don't you stay here and recover and i'll go get you something nice." i said smiling.

"you're the best." she said giving me a kiss on the cheek. i got up and headed out. i took the elevator down the building from the 10th floor and walked out of the building. i walked around manehattan for a while until i came across a store.

i walked in and looked around. they had a nice array of jewelry. i found a silver necklace with a diamond heart on it. the heart was one solid diamond shaped like a heart and it had silver wings on it. it was perfect.

i bought the necklace for like 50 bits it was a steal. i started heading back to the hotel and i finally made it there. i walked into the lobby and over to the elevator. i took the elevator to the 10th floor and walked back to our room. i walked in and rainbow was still on the bed laying awkwardly on her stomach.

"i don't remember leaving you like that." i said.

"i tried to get up but it didn't work" she said. "but i think i'm getting feeling back in my legs." she said.

"i got you something pretty." i said.

"ohh a present." i picked her up and leaned her against the headboard of the bed. i pulled out the necklace and put it on her. she looked at it and smiled. "oh my gosh this is beautiful" she said. she gave me a kiss. "you're the best." she said. i smiled.

"anything for you." i said. i picked her up and sat her down on my lap. i rubbed my hooves on her back and massaged her.

"damn you just stop pleasing people do you." she said smiling.

"i aim to please... and incidentally i never miss." i said. she laughed. i rubbed her back for a few minutes and she eventually started getting feeling back in her limbs. she turned over and hugged me. she grabbed me and threw me on my back.

"your turn." she said. she started digging her hooves into my back and it felt heavenly. she even managed to rub the knot out of my left shoulder. she massaged me for the next ten minutes and i turned onto my stomach. i pulled her over and hugged her. she was nice and soft.

"why don't we take it easy on the sex tonight baby." i said.

"alright" she said resting her head on my chest. i laughed and she did too.

the rest of the honeymoon flew by and it was time to head back home... i have NEVER had... so much sex in my life and it was awesome. the princess had arranged for a chariot to pick us up and fly us back. the chariot came and we headed home.

through the entire 4 hour trip we continued to flirt and fool around. we didn't actually have sex in the chariot but we were still a bit aroused. when we finally returned home we were greeted by our friends and family members.

we caught up and we told lies to them about how we spent the days at the beach or at the stores or whatever. biggest lie to ever come out of my mouth. they probably didn't believe it too much but i think they bought it to an extent.

me and dash grabbed scootaloo and baby dawn from fluttershy and we flew home. we got home and it was getting late and scootaloo kept telling us about nightmare night. she exaggerated a bit but i was still surprised by what happened.

apparently luna came down to ponyville to try and make the holiday a sort of feast to her kindness. stuff ensued and eventually twilight helped her in the end and everything was alright. i personally think this was good for luna.

we put baby dawn into bed and she went to sleep. we got scootaloo to calm down and got her to go to bed too. when she finally dozed off me and dash headed to bed as well. it felt good to be in my own bed for a change. we laid down next to each other and we went to sleep.

****now that the honeymoon is over we can be a family. i smiled in my sleep and started to try and predict what my life was going to be like. maybe i could get a job or something. i don't know. but i knew that this was going to be the start of my new life.


	42. Chapter 42: And All Things Will End

i woke up early to rumbling downstairs. someone was in our house. i got up slowly and grabbed my sword in the corner. i walked down the stairs and looked around. there was a light on in the kitchen. i slowly walked over to the edge of the doorway.

this can't really be happening right now. i just got back from my honeymoon and now somepony is breaking into my house. i looked on the ground and noticed there were mud covered prints... they were boots.

i jumped out from the edge of the doorway and looked around the kitchen. nothin, there was no one there. i walked in and looked around the fridge door was open and allot of my food was missing. i think we were just raided of our food.

i heard another sound from the living room. i slowly made my way in and looked around. it was dark and i couldn't see too well because i was tired and my eyes were half closed. i got into the living room and looked around.

something hit me on the back of my head and i dropped my sword. it fell to the ground with a clang and i fell as well. i felt something press against the back of my head. it was cold and circular feeling.

"Don't you fucking move or i will shoot." said a voice. wait a minute. the voice sounded familiar and did he say shoot. "do you speak english." he said. english... what. oh holy shit.

"Derek..." i said. "holy shit Derek is that you." i said.

"what the... fuck...How do you know my name... what the fuck are you."

"holy shit Derek it is you." i said.

"what wait... fuck...i..." he was confused. "oh my god...Alex." he said

"good to see you buddy about time they sent somebody to get me." i said. he pulled the gun away and i turned around. it was derek. holy shit. i couldn't help but smile. although he looked very hurt and he was covered in mud.

"what the actual fuck... you... you're not alex." he said pointing the gun back at me. "you're just a...a...a freak." he said. i needed to calm him down. i stood back up.

"derek you need to calm down... it is me... i know it may not look like it but you have to trust me a lot has happened."

"if it is you then... then... when's your birthday." he said

"may 7th." i replied.

"shit...uhm... oh what's the name of our commander in chief"

"commander Henry J. Brenold... first class, well decorated." i said.

"oh my god." he said he lowered his weapon. i watched as dash crept up behind him and knocked him on the head with a frying pan. he fell to the ground and got hit again. he was out.

"are you crazy." i said

"what the fuck is this." she said "what happened to no more surprises." she said. we were both obviously freaking out. scootaloo had come out of her room at some point and stared at my friend lying on the ground while me and dash argued.

"like i was supposed to know this was coming... i c might be powerful but i can't see into the damn future." i said.

"daddy what is this thing." said scootaloo. i didn't have time to answer her because there was a knock at the door. i instantly made it out to be the princess. i opened the door with a shadow and she walked in.

"crimson we need to-" she stopped when she saw the body lying unconscious on the floor. "oh"

"ah celestia so glad of you to join us... now explain." i said.

"what the hell is another human doing here." said dash.

"what's a human." asked scootaloo.

"alright everypony be quiet." said celestia raising her voice. "now i'm going to explain this and then crimson you need to explain everything to him when he wakes up."

"fine now what's going on." i said.

"i have reason to believe that for some time after you came to equestria you're race had begun trying to make it's way back here. and about a day ago they succeeded" said the princess pointing to my buddy lying on the floor.

"alright i get that but...it's i... dammit i don't even know anymore." i grabbed up derek with a shadow and dropped him on the couch. he almost broke it. he was huge. i slapped him across the face and he woke up. he looked around at all the colorfull ponies staring at him. he dove off the couch and grabbed scootaloo. he put a gun to her head and she started screaming.

"help me... please." she screamed. he put his hand over her snout and started pointing the gun at people. he was good i'll give him that.

"what the...FUCK IS GOING ON HERE..." he said shouting. he looked at me. "you what the fuck are you and where is the man named alex wesson."

"DAMMIT DEREK IT'S ME." i shouted.

"Bullshit." he said. i looked over at the princess. i didn't say anything but she knew what i was thinking. her horn glowed and she started to turn me back. the light faded and i was human again...and i had clothes on too ,thats a first. i looked over to derek.

"derek put down the pony and the gun."

"oh fuck what happened... you're... you... Fuck." he said.

"derek calm down and put the gun down... nobody is going to hurt you... we're friends." he started trembling. i could see scootaloo's eyes grow wider than ever before. i had forgotten she didn't know my secret. i really wish she didn't get caught up in this.

"GOD DAMMIT." he said throwing the gun to the ground and dropping scootaloo. she ran away crying into her room. i'll deal with that later. she probably wants to be alone now anyway.

"c'mon derek come sit down." i said sitting on the couch. it bent under my weight. derek slowly walked over and sat down. he buried his face in his hands and started to lightly cry. i put my hand on his back and patted him. i sighed "you gonna be alright bro." i said.

"what the fuck happened man." he said.

"i don't know you tell me." i said.

"well i came through the arch to get away from the government. after the explosion they sent in some really top guys and it all went downhill from there." he said.

"what happened" i asked.

"well it seemed harmless at first but then when people tried to leave they would hunt them down and bring them back just to torture them... i was sure they were going to kill me if i didn't prove useful to them... they killed all of them... they killed drudge and fives... they even killed rook." he said.

drudge fives and rook were members of our squad. they were also some of my best friends. i felt bad for him. yet i am confused as to know what went wrong.

"when i took the chance of running for it i was sure the portal would explode again and kill them all." he said "i hope it did."

"they had you out there for an entire year."

"yeah... and dude debra she's" he said but i stopped him.

"i know... i know," i said. i starting having a few memories. "and i guess i should start explaining shouldn't I." i said.

"i don't care... this place seems better already... at least i'm not surrounded by wild beasts."

"well it's not really a glamorous life here either compared to on earth." i said.

"i don't care if i go back...if i could even go back, i'm pretty sure they would shoot me on sight. might as well live here and survive another day." he said. i laughed.

"thats what i thought too and look at me. im... well i'm happy." i said.

"so exactly how am i supposed to fit in..." he said.

"like i have." i said. i looked at the princess and she shined her horn. i was covered in light and i was a pony again. i looked at him and smiled.

"oh fuck... do i have too." he said.

"got a better idea." i said.

"fine" he said. he stood up and was at par with the princess. "fire away i guess." her horn glowed and he was covered in light. he yelled in pain and writhed around in the air. the glow faded and he fell to the ground with a thud. he was a pony.

rainbow dash walked over and she looked at me. the expression on her face was simply that it was an impossible expression to describe. she looked at me and hugged me i hugged her back. derek started groaning and writhing around. soon enough he opened his eyes and rolled around.

"woah woah wait a minute..." i said. "how come he gets right up but i slipped into a coma for two months." i said looking at the princess. i was personally offended.

"i turned him into an unicorn ... it's more of a mental change than a physical one... and plus he was in good condition when i changed him... you weren't." she said. i guess that makes sense. i looked back at derek. i started using my shadows to light a few candles.

"oh god what the hell have i gotten myself into." he said laying on the ground looking over his new body.

"you my friend." i said walking over to him. "have just started the greatest adventure of your life.". he slowly made his way onto his own hooves. he managed to stand up but he was wobbly and shaky.

"oh my fucking head." he said he looked around and tried to make out what just happened. he had brown fur and dark orange hair with blue eyes. he was just a simple earth pony. celestia walked over and towered over him.

"welcome to equestria." she said.

"and who the fuck is this bitch." he said. oh how he shouldn't have said that. i quickly jumped in front of him. the princess seemed a bit offended but it would take more to set her off than just that.

"derek that is the princess... AKA the last person on this rock you want to fuck with." i said. his eyes widened and he finally stopped shaking.

"oh uhm...sorry" he said.

"it's alright"said celestia. "i can understand your confusion and anger."

"crimson why don't you three take this outside." said dash. the baby had started crying and she went in to get her. she came back out holding her. "like now." she said.

"c'mon lets go for a walk... i think i can handle it from here celestia." i said.

"are you sure." she said. i nodded. she smiled and her horn lit up. there was a flash and she disappeared. she was gone. i helped my friend walk out of the house and we went outside. we sat down on the doorstep.

"you alright man." i said.

"what the fuck." he said.

"i can tell you're not going to believe this as easily as i did."

"oh my god what just happened."

"well basically shit just got fucked up and you got screwed... don't ask me to sugar coat it because i can't... welcome to equestria." i said. he put his head up. he took a deep breath.

"i'm tired." he said. i just looked at him.

"are you sure you-" he cut me off.

"i just want to lie down and sleep... maybe think things over." he said. i sighed and stood up.

"alright... we don't have an extra bed but you can have the couch." i said.

"thanks bro." he said standing up. "i'd hug you but i can barely stand as it is." he said.

"thats alright." i said. i opened the door and we walked in. dash was in the babies room rocking her to sleep. i helped derek over to the couch and he laid down. i got him a blanket and a pillow but when i got to him he was already sleeping... must have been rough out there.

i walked in to the babies room and dash was setting down back down in her crib. she looked over to me and smiled. them she punched me in the arm.

"i told you there was nothing i could have done about this." i said.

"i know i'm just upset this happened after our honeymoon and you're the only one around here who can take a punch." she said. i laughed quietly. she smiled and hugged me.

"he might have to stay with us for a bit." i said.

"that's fine just..." she stopped her train of thought. " are you alright." she said.

"yeah i'm fine just...confused." i said.

"i know i'm confused too... but this kind of stuff happens a lot and i'm kinda just going with it." she said. i laughed . she was right i should be happy he's here. now i actually have an old human friend with me.

"c'mon baby lets go to bed." i said. we walked upstairs and past derek laying on the couch. we went to bed and i pulled the covers over us. i hugged dash and closed my eyes and went to sleep. i didn't really know how i was feeling. but this was going to be interesting.

i woke up early the next morning when the sunlight started shining in my eyes through the cracks of the blinders. i got up and walked downstairs. i had completely forgotten about derek until i saw him laying on the couch looking up at the ceiling. he looked emotionless.

"hey derek...you alright." i asked.

"yeah." he said. "i'm just thinkin'" he said. i walked down the stairs and over to the couch. i heard some crying from scootaloo's room. i guess it's time to come clean.

"give me a sec alright. i gotta go confess to my kid." i said. i walked away. he seemed to react when i said kid. i'll have to do a lot of explaining later. i walked over to scootaloo's room and opened the door. "scootaloo." i said. "are you alright." i poked my head in.

"GO AWAY" she said throwing a pillow at my head. i kept walking in. "I SAID GO."

"scootaloo. sweetie daddy has to confess."

"CONFESS THAT YOU... you're a freak" she said. stuffing her face in a pillow. she started crying again and i walked over. i sat down on her bed and put a hoof on her back. she tried to shuffle away but i grabbed her. i wanted to hug her but she turned over and bucked me in the face and scattered to the other side of the room. that really hurt.

i pretended to start crying. even though the crying was fake the tears were real. i sat there on her bed trying to cry and get her attention. she soon came over and jumped up on the bed.

"oh my gosh... dad i'm...i'm sorry." she said. "dad i don't hate you... i'm just... i'm so confused."

"me too scoots... but i guess i should explain... i'm not a pony like the rest of you." i said.

"is that why you turned into one of those things."

"yeah" i said. she crawled over and hugged my leg. i picked her up and hugged her. "always remember that no matter what i would never hurt you." i said. "never"

"i'm sorry i hit you daddy... i was just upset and scared."

"that's alright baby... i'm sorry i didn't tell you." i said. she was taking this rather well. "now you can't tell anypony alright." i said.

"alright dad." she said. i put her down. "is that other guy going to be staying with us." she said looking through her door to the living room.

"maybe for a while...i have to help him get on his hooves. not literally but he needs help and i'm his only friends here." i said walking to the door.

"alright dad." she said.

"bye scoots." i said.

"bye dad." she said smiling. i closed the door and went back into the living room.

"that you're kid." derek said.

"yeah she's adopted." i said "my real kid is over in that room." i said pointing to dawns room.

"and the blue pony gal is..." he said leading me on to answer him.

"my wife yes...we actually just had our honeymoon and the night after you showed up." he laughed.

"you always were the best at handling new situations... that's why you're the leader of the squad i guess. makes sense come to think of it... you could survive anything." he said

"i don't know you've done a good job too... you always were the only person i knew who could get answers in a second." i said "but i swear to god if you pull a gun on anybody here i'll kill you." i said in a fake voice. we both laughed and he stood up.

" so i think i've pretty much figured out how this body works. i spent all night running and walking around in your living room."

"good that's just one thing of many... but trust me it gets easy." i said walking into the kitchen "so what do you want for breakfast." i said

"dude i don't know but those rations they give us at the base suck...i could go for a nice big steak." he said. i laughed.

"well keep dreaming." i said "ain't no meat here just fruits, vegetables, and pastries." i said.

"oh god no... kill me now." he said. i laughed.

"don't ask me to do that because you know i would." i said. we both laughed. i walked out with a nice big cherry pie. "here eat this." i said.

"this whole pie is breakfast." he said

"and this." i said holding up a bottle of sarsaparilla.

"this place is crazy." he said. "and what's the deal with this thing on my head." he said poking his horn.

"that's a horn dude...your a unicorn." i said.

"awww c'mon." he said. he poked his horn again.

"hey that thing lets you do magic and shit." he said. he kinda perked up.

"hmm i guess that's pretty cool." he said. he looked back over his body for other changes "woah woah what is this." he said.

"what is what." i said taking a bite of cherry pie.

"this..." he said pointing to his cutie mark. it was a picture of two crossed swords. nice. "it looks cool." he said "like a tattoo."

"well it doesn't come off like one... that's your cutie mark bro."

"why...why does it have to be called that...wh-why are you doing this to me." he said. i laughed, it was going to take some time for him to settle in.

"don't worry...it's supposed to depict your own special talent." i said.

"i'm just going to ignore it forever." he said. i laughed again. he took a bit from the cherry pie and he smiled. he stuffed his face into the pie and ate the whole thing. he then downed the entire bottle of sarsaparilla.

"hungry?" i said. i laughed at my own bad joke. "c'mon lets go get out of the house...i'll show you around ponyville." i said.

"god...do the horse puns ever stop... are you making these up as you go." he said looking over and getting up.

"i don't think so... but after awhile you hear them all."i said. "now lets go."

we both walked out of the house and through ponyville. i started explaining stuff to him like the language and traditions. about what has happened while i've been here. he didn't believe most of it and questioned the rest.

we walked around i got him some more food. he just snorted it down. it was funny how much he ate. i explained to him about his magic and all that junk.

"so if i can do magic... what can you do." he said. i stretched out my wings and floated into the air.

"i can fly." i said.

"no fair... i want to fly too." he said. i laughed. i swooped down and picked him up and lifted him into the air. "this isn't what i meant asshole." he said as i picked him up. i flew over to the cloud laid carrying him and stood on one of the clouds.

"pretty cool huh." i said.

"you can stand on clouds" he said

"all part of the job." i floated him back down and we continued our walk. we went to sugarcube corner. i had expected pinkie to be there but she wasn't just the cakes. we bought some food and left.

"so explain the monetary system to me." he said.

"it's simple a bit is like an american dollar... there are no five's or tens, or any change. just the one bit... and that's all everything is even." i said.

"alright sounds simple enough" he said.

"there is a twist though and i don't think you're going to like this." i said

"what is it."

"the language is basically the same but instead of words like everybody or no one you have to say everyPONY or noPONY..."

"oh god." he said.

"and instead of hands or feet it's hooves"

"it can't ever be easy can it." he said.

"thats what i keep telling myself." i said.

we walked around and i explained basically everything to him. i knew this was hard for him but i had a feeling that he was going to be fine. i know my squad mates and he was the best fighter. he was one tough son-of-a-bitch. if anybody could pull through this it would be us. maybe i could take him to twilight. she might be able to lighten things up.

"hey alex...where are you taking me." he said. which brought up another point.

"oh yeah before i tell you you're going to have to change your name."

"to what." he asked stopping in his tracks. i stopped and turned around to face him.

"i don't know whatever you want i guess. as long as it makes sense to this world." i said.

"what's you're name." he asked.

"crimson blast." i said.

"oh like you're fathers B22" he said

"exactly."

"i can't think of anything like that... i don't have any deep and personal issues like that... my life's a bore." just think of something quick before i have to introduce you." i said as i continued my way up to twilight's house.

"introduce me to who." he said following me.

"my friend twilight sparkle." i said. he sighed and rolled his eyes. we walked forward and i knocked on the door to twilight's house. she opened up and smiled.

"hey crimson." she said "what's up." she looked over at derek who was looking past her and into her house. "who's your friend here." she said.

"twilight can we come in." i said. she moved away from the doorway and gestured us in. we walked in and stood around the center of the library. "twilight this is my friend derek." i said. it took her but a second to figure it out.

"oh you're the guy the princess wrote to me about this morning." she said rushing over and looking over my friend.

"uh...hi" he said being completely still. he didn't move a muscle but his eyes just followed twilight around and she inspected him. "can...can i go...this is kinda...weird." he said.

"calm down derek." i said "twilight is one of my best friends she isn't going to hurt you. and she isn't going to try anything funny either trust me she's already taken..." i said "speaking of which were is stargrazer." i asked. twilight kinda just froze and dropped her head.

"oh...we're not seeing each other anymore." she said

"what happened you two looked so nice together."

"yeah but he was a big jerk... treated me like garbage... so i threw him out...literally." she said.

"want me to do something about it." i said

"no it's fine." she said.

"alright." i said. i looked over to derek and smiled. "so twilight incase you haven't noticed my friend here is a unicorn and he might need some... training so he can properly use his magic." i said.

"are you trying to set me up with your friend." she said. i froze and looked guilty.

"what...no." i said with my eyes darting around the room. "maybe."

"i appreciate the concern and yes i will help your friend but honestly crimson you need to stop caring so much.. you're worse than my mother." she said walking into the other room.

"ooooh." yelled derek "you just got told sarge." he said laughing.

"keep laughing fresh meat." i said. "you're in for the ass kicking of your life if you hang around with this crazy broad" i said

"i heard that." said twilight from the other room. "your no tea party either you insane bastard." she yelled. derek laughed some more and fell to the ground. i rolled my eye's i reached into my bag and threw him a bag full of money.

"what's this." he said.

"your next test." i replied. "there are 200 bits in there and it's yours." i said.

"thanks sarge." he said

"but i'm leaving now...it's up to you to settle in... good luck. because you're not allowed on my property until it's dark or unless you're dying. " i said. "so you better adapt fast." i said.

"your one cold and unforgiving bastard." he said smiling. "good to see you haven't changed." he said.

"i'll see you later." i said and i opened the door. i spread my wings and flew away. he was going to be fine. but i should head back to my family. i flew past sugarcube corner and rarity's house and made it back home. i opened the door and walked in. dash was sitting on the couch with fluttershy and she was holding the baby.

they were both talking. fluttershy saw me and smiled. dash looked behind her and saw me as well. she smiled too. i slowly floated over and sat down in my chair.

"hey baby." i said giving dash a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. "hey there fluttershy." i said

"hi crimson." she said.

"welcome back honey...have fun with your new friend." she said smiling."where is he by the way." she said.

"oh i left him on his own at twilight's... i told him not to come back until dark." i said

"why would you do that." said fluttershy.

"so he can fit in... you know explore a bit and figure the place out." i said. "and don't worry he'll be fine he's one tough bastard."

"i hope... if he doesn't come back though you're going to go find him right." said dash.

"maybe." i said. baby dawn started giggling and playing with dash's hair. "here let me see my little girl." i said. i reached over and dash handed me dawn. i looked down at her and she smiled. she made a few baby noises and giggled.

i rubbed her tummy with my hoof and she giggled. i laughed a bit and stopped tickling her. i went to pull my hoof away but she grabbed onto it and i picked her up. she was hanging my just my hoof. it was cute.i slowly put her back down so she wouldn't fall.

i laughed and she let go. she curled up into a ball and started playing with her own tail. she started chewing on it and i laughed again. i handed the baby back to dash and got up.

"going somewhere." she said

"probably." i said. "i'm not sure though."

"alright but be back home before dinner." she said.

"yep." i said and i grabbed my bags and flew out of the door. i flew across ponyville for a little bit. that's all i really did was fly for the next hour or so. about 5 minutes later i tried to scope out my friend derek but i couldn't find him.

i was hoping to spy on him and see how he was doing but he was nowhere to be found. i looked around and saw something big over at the apple orchard. i swooped down and landed next to applejack. i looked around it was some kind of obstacle course.

"howdy there." said applejack.

"hey AJ" i said "what's this stuff" i asked.

"this is for the sisterhooves social." she said.

"what's that."

"it's a big thing me and the family do to raise money for the farm. everypony comes here and competes even me and mah own sister. we hold this every year... well except last year when there was that storm." she said

"interesting." i said. i looked around and saw applebloom and scootaloo squashing grapes to make some jam... i don't even care were those grapes came from. i waved at scootaloo and she waved back with a smile.

i looked over and saw sweetie belle sitting on the ground slouched over. she seemed upset. i wonder what was wrong. i should probably talk to her.

"hey what's up with sweetie belle." i asked

"oh she and rarity have been fighting again... this time was pretty bad. do y'all wanna talk ta her." said applejack.

"yeah maybe i can snap some sense into her." i said. i walked over and sat down next to sweetie belle. "hey sweetie belle." i said.

"hey crimson." she said.

"what's wrong... applejack said you and rarity have been fighting."

"yeah... she doesn't love me anymore because i keep making a mess."

"she honestly can't love you anymore she's your sister."

"i keep trying to help her but i mess it up every time and she just yells at me."

"i remember when i used to bug my sister... she would get so mad it was funny."

"what did she do." sweetie belle asked.

"well she would yell at me and she had done that since i was about 20." i said. "then i went and i joined the army."

"you were a royal guard."

"no no sweetie this is from before i moved to equestria. you see i had joined the army to fight a rebellion going on... i loved to serve my country and to protect it, but my sister just scolded me for being reckless."

"and then what." she asked.

"well when i was called to go and fight i had to leave my family to go and fight... i might not have ever came back... you know what my sister did when i walked out the door."

"what did she do." said sweetie belle.

"well she cried... then she hugged me and told me how much she loved me... i promised her i would return and that i loved her too... and then i left... she would write me every day and i would write to her as well." i had started to gather a few memories and it brought a single tear to my eye

"that's such a sad story." said sweetie belle.

"no sweetie it's not... you see even though i was a jerk to her and we would fight she still loved me and she still does." i said i put a hoof on sweetie belles shoulder. "you see sweetie belle you don't truly know what you have until it's gone."

she had a few tears in her eyes. i could tell they were tears of joy. applejack and the others came over at some point to hear my story. i put a hoof on sweeties back and stood up.

"now why don't you go and talk to rarity... alright just clear things up."

"thanks crimson." said sweetie belle. "i wish you were my sister so that i could go to the social with you." i chuckled and she ran off into the apple tree's. applebloom and scoots went back to smashing grapes and AJ walked over.

"thats a mighty powerful story y'all told there... is it true." she asked.

"i never told her what happened after i came back." i said.

"what happened."

"3 years after joining the war the letters from my sister stopped. i was discharged from the army and when i came back home she had died from sickness... i sat at her grave for three days."

"ahm so sorry." said AJ.

"it's funny how fast things can change when you're not around." i said

"you alright."

"yeah i'm fine... i've repressed most of the memory and thinking about it would only make me sad... so lets just drop it." i said hoping not to bring up those memories.

"uhm...alright... wanna help me set up the rest of the course. i just gotta move a few hay bales into place."

"yeah sure. i said. i helped applejack finish the course for the next few minutes and she paid me in apples. i got like 5 apples. i didn't care i had done it expecting to not be paid at all. i ate the apples and said my goodbye's i took off into the sky and flew back over ponyville.

i flew over sugarcube corner and looked down i saw twilight. i also saw somepony with her. not really though but whoever the poor sap was he was carrying a shit ton of book. i flew down at an angle to see that it was my good friend derek. i landed by them and started walking. he looked over to me.

"i hate you so much right now." he said i laughed.

"oh hi crimson." said twilight. "me and thunder rush here were just heading over to go and practice some magic."

"ooh thunder rush... nice." i said.

"you know the thunder rush." he said.

"yes i do... most stupidly dangerous maneuver you've ever come up with... but the best part is that it worked every time." i said we both laughed and i took some of the books off of his back.

the thunder rush was a tactic that we had in the military. we would throw what we called the double blind surprise. we would throw a flash bang and a smoke capsule. after that we would run through with an active frag grenade.

the next step was to drop the grenade and run like hell. it was stupidly dangerous but it worked well. it's our squads signature move. oh the memories. twilight cleared her throat and spoke up while i was still in memory lane.

"anyway i'm not even going to bother trying to understand what you two are reminiscing about but why don't you come with us crimson we could use a test dummy." she said. that seemed to put a smile on derek's face.

"do i have a choice." i asked.

"not really." said twilight.

"i guess but i promised dash i would be home before dinner." i said.

"what happened to being on my own." said derek.

"meh... you're fine, seems you've been fitting in well."

"yeah it's not that hard... i guess." he said. i laughed and eventually we all got to the park. we set the books down and twilight stood in front of thunder.

"alright for your first lesson i want you to pick up that book with your magic." she said.

"alright alright... now how do i do that." he said. twilight sighed and rolled her eyes.

"it's easy just imagine that you're picking it up and concentrate." said twilight.

he closed his eyes and his horn started glowing a bright yellow. he looked like he was under a lot of pressure. he started sweating and the book started to glow as well. i floated up in the air and slowly floated over. the book picked up speed.

"you're doing it." said twilight excitedly. the book was going fast and it sped up even more and eventually hit him in the face and fell to the ground. i laughed.

"son of a bitch." he said kicking the book.

"eh... close enough." she said. "crimson you can go home... i don't think we're going to get to any spells that require a second party." she said. i laughed and said goodbye i flew up into the air and flew over ponyville. i checked the clock tower and it was only 3:20.

what to do now... i guess i can go to a bar. maybe get a bit drunk. i flew down and went to the local bar. i walked in and took a seat next to a familiar face... it was vinyl scratch.

"no way you son of a bitch." she said punching my arm.

"sup vinny." i said.

"not much how's being married treating you... have any good sex yet." she said smiling.

"oh god the honeymoon... that's all we did was fuck." i said. i turned my attention to the bartender. "sup barkeep... the usually." i said.

"comin right up crimson." he said. i liked this place it's the only spot in town where i can unwind and maybe get in a barfight.

"nice." said vinyl.

"so get in any good bar fights lately." i said.

"oh you should have seen me smoke these two guys the other day. they tried to pull one over but i totally beat the crap out of them."

"i think you had more to drink than you thought." said the bartender. "one guy came over and offered you a drink then you hit him with a bottle and left." he said. i started snickering trying my best not to laugh and vinyl blushed.

"sounds like quite the fight." i said. the bartender put the drinks on the table and i took a swig. "oh and barkeep can i get two bottle of jack... i've got a friend back home."

"like a friend friend or a special friend." he said.

"just a friend." i said.

"alright i'll get you the good bottles from the back." he said.

me and vinyl kept talking and we caught up. i had a bit to drink and i put the two bottles of jack daniels in my pouch. i paid the guy and said bye to vinyl. i headed out and i felt nauseas. rainbow was going to kill me. i looked around and it was almost time to get home. i spread my wings and took off.

i didn't take long for me to crash into the first thing i saw. so i got up and just ran home. i sprinted home and it started getting dark. eventually i made my way back home after crashing into several other things.

i stumbled up to the doorway and opened the door. i walked in and fell down on the floor. i tried getting up but i fell again. soon enough dash and thunder walked up to me. thunder had a grin on his face and was trying not to laugh and dash looked pissed.

"great you're drunk." she said

"i'm sorry... i just had a little *hic* a little too much."

"this isn't going to happen often is it." she said.

"not if he can help it." said thunder snickering again.

"hey i thought i told you that you're not allowed on this property until eight." i said getting up.

"actually it's 8:36." he said pointing to a clock. i squinted to see the clock and he was right.

"alright you win." i said. "lemme just... go run my head under some cold water and i'll cook up some dinner." i walked up the stairs and into the bathroom i held my head over the sink and let the cold water clear my mind.

i picked my head up and looked at myself in the mirror. i looked horrible. i walked downstairs while drying my head and i cleared my thoughts. i walked into the kitchen and started cooking up some food.

"so alex... you never told me you got remarried and had a kid... congratulations dude."

"you're sure i didn't tell you that... i could have sworn that i did."

"no i don't remember... but what i do remember was your last marriage.". my heart sunk. that son of a bitch. me and my friends all had a tradition of pulling pranks on each other throughout the wedding... oh god it was horrible.

"you son of a bitch what have you done to my house." i said he and dash both laughed. oh god she was in on it too.

"oh you'll find out." he said. oh no.

i walked into the living room. and looked him in the eyes and he just smiled. i have to be careful. last time at my friend bill's wedding he lost a finger. and that wasn't even the intended purpose of the prank. he actually lost it before the cake burst into flames. he was just so paranoid he didn't pay attention and cut through a piece of steak and his index finger.

i walked back into the kitchen and looked around. there didn't seem to be anything wrong. and he couldn't have done too much in a half hour span of time... but then again he was good. i walked around and inspected everything. it's all good. time to make some stew.

i gathered my ingredients and utensils. it took about five minutes for me to do this because i was being careful. i had all but one last ingredient...cinnamon. i opened the spice rack slowly and nothing happened. but there was no cinnamon.

"hey honey where's the cinnamon." i asked.

"it's in the drawer above the sink...i used it for the babies formula and i rushed to put it back."

"oh and by the way... if you're freaking out about one big prank i didn't have time for that... so i set up several small ones around your house." said thunder.

"i don't think that makes me feel better." i said. i walked over to the cabinet. i was wondering why it was in there since i keep most of my potions in there. i swung open the cabinet door. a large bucket full of some kind of liquid dropped and poured all over me.

i gasped and in that one moment i had swallowed a bunch of the strange liquid. it tasted horrible. i fell to the ground and i could hear laughing coming from the other room. i looked in the cabinet and saw several empty beakers...oh no.

"please tell me you didn't mix thos bottle together." i said to thunder as he walked into the room. this was bad. the liquid turned black and started boiling. oh god i swallowed some of it.

"what's wrong." he said calming down.

"you ca-" is all that came out of my mouth before i froze. a wave of numbness swept over my body and i dropped. i could see multicolored spots flash in front of my face and i started having muscle spasms. i saw my friend lean over me and start freaking out but i couldn't hear. there was a constant ringing in my head drowning out all other sounds.

i eventually everything went black. i started to have some hallucinations and i could feel hand's all over my body. i felt like bugs were crawling all over me. i was freaking out but i was completely immobile. eventually it all stopped.

****And so did my heart.

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**-events and ideas inspired by Picklemonman, interpreted by the author and adapted to the flow of the story-**


	43. Chapter 43: Remembrance

it's funny really if you think about it... how do we keep fighting every day when there's nothing to fight over... we fight over land, resources, money. but why do we need those things . it doesn't make any sense but we fight anyway. i guess humans just have an inborn ability for battle...kinda makes us who we are.

kinda makes me who i am.

i remember it like it was only a few days ago. i didn't used to be the sergeant of the squad. a brave man named alvin... but that was it he didn't have a last name or a middle name... he was just alvin. but he was the bravest son of a bitch i've ever seen. he would hogtie an elephant and feed him to an entire african villiage.

so one day were out patrolling a small town in russia that we have dubbed the bloody pit. reason it's called the bloody pit is because nuclear fallout years ago has stained everything with rust and bacteria turning it red... thus the bloody pit was born.

so we were patrolling when all of a sudden a bunch of liberals jump out of the shadow and start shooting at us. we lost 2 rookies before we got to cover. everybody was hurt. i had taken two bullets to the chest and one to the leg. i was in bad shape. drudge had called in for air support and an airlift.

we fought for at least 5 minutes before we were low on ammo. i was on my last mag. so sarge...alvin he looks at me and he says..."kid, remember... there's no way in life that you're going to survive without changing the way you fight." and with that he dove into a nearby building.

i thought he left us and i got pissed. i fired of the rest of my clip and i was out. i looked over my cover and you know what i saw... that crazy son of a bitch alvin running from behind them with a makeshift shield and a machete.

he came up behind them and started slashing away. the rest of us joined in and we grabbed our combat knives while they were distracted by alvin. we single handedly defeated an enemy force with melee weapon based combat.

i never thought it was a big deal until now... it's funny when you think about it, you could go you're whole life fighting a battle the wrong way and never know that you're just killing yourself. it's amazing how often it happens. but in order to know what you doing wrong you have to embrace who you are.

don't fight tough or even don't fight smart...fight like you...if something is troubling YOU and only YOU then don't fight like some kind of jackass. fight the way you would fight.

i've realized that now that all my problems here were just mine. never anybody elses. derek may have helped. but he is but a small pawn in a greater scheme. i've been fighting this whole battle all wrong...

and now i'm dead. i guess this is what i deserve. i deserve to be dead...but like hell i'm going to stay this way. it's just another challenge that i have to face.

****and as of now...things change.


	44. Chapter 44: Afterlife

"oh...oh god my head." i said getting up. i looked around...darkness that's it. just darkness everywhere. then it faded and i closed my eyes again. i woke up later in the hospital. everything was grey and boring. i could see the sun out of the window but there was no light. it was strange. suddenly i could hear a few voices behind the door. they were muffled.

"let us in."

"you can't..."

"let us in asshole."

"you can't go in there... he is in a hyper meditative state."

"no you can let them in." i yelled. "i'm alright."...no response.

"let us IN." said one of the voices. there was a thud against the door and one of the doctor ponies flew through the door as it swung open. i got up to see who was coming over. it was dash and derek. and...twilight and the others...what.

"NOOOO." screamed dash she ran over.

"dash i'm alright why are you screaming." i said. i went to pick her up but she passed right through me. i stopped and dropped to my knees knowing what has happened.

i looked back to see dash leaning over the hospital bed. i walked over. she was leaning against me. i was lying there pale and limp. my eyes were open and they stared blankly at the ceiling.

"we don't know what it is..." said the doctor getting up. "there's no pulse no heartbeat... he's not even breathing... but the electrical synapses in his brain are still functioning and sending messages to the body... so technically he's dead... but not entirely."

"what do you mean not entirely." said derek grabbing the doctor and pushing him up against the wall. "what did you do." the doctor got pissed.

"ITS NOT WHAT I DID mr. Thunder rush. IT'S WHAT YOU DID... how can you be so careless mixing potion like that... you fool you're lucky he didn't just disintegrate right there."he said at the top of his voice.

derek lost it and fell to the ground. he put his hooves over his eyes and started crying... he was upset. i tried yelling at him but nopony could hear me... this sucks.

"oh god NOOOO." he yelled. "dammit i'm sorry alex... i'm so sorry buddy..." he said crawling over to the bed and leaning over me. his sadness turned to anger. "dammit you selfish son of a bitch." he punched my lifeless body. i could feel that. "get up you ass. you're not like this you can't die. you never have died before and you not going to now... get up." every word was just that another punch to the chest... and i can feel every one.

"mr. thunder." said the doctor in a booming voice. "stop that right this instant." there was a static signal in the air and the doctor pulled out a walkie talkie. he spoke into it.

"what." he said. he held it to his ear. i couldn't hear the other end. "oh my... send her up." he said. i looked over and dash and the others were still crying over my body. well dash was crying the worst the others were trying to cheer her up.

"don't worry rainbow" twilight said sniffing up her tears. "he'll be fine... he's been through worse." she said. rainbow dash lost it.

"no he hasn't twilight... stop trying to help, he's dead... there's no hope." she said swatting twilight's hand away. i wanted to start crying myself but i found it hard to. i wanted to just burst out and cry but i couldn't. i looked over and i saw a few tears rolling down the face of my body.

i felt a presence walk through the room. i looked to the doorway and saw the princess standing there. how could she have already gotten word of this...how long have i been dead.

"ah princess good you're here." said the doctor. "i believe you know this stallion." the princess walked over and looked down at my lifeless body. i saw a single tear fall from her eyes.

"yes i do." she said.

"then will you be attending the funeral." he said.

"i don't think there will be a funeral." she said.

"p-princess he's...he's dead." he said.

"no he's not..." she said. she looked over to me. i thought she was looking out the window until she smiled. she was actually looking at my...ghost or whatever. she's kinda scary when you know what she's truly made of. "he just needs to find his way." she said.

i was confused...i guess she's right... there has to be a way out of this. i needed some fresh air... i can't stand to be in this room. i walked out. a million things flashed through my head. mostly memories and old stories. a few ideas here and there. by the time the flashbacks stopped i was outside.

i looked around and everything was grey and boring. there was no color. no difference no fun... everything was dull and boring. until i heard laughter. i looked behind me and saw the same dark pony that haunts my dreams...my own demon.

"congratulations... my friend you are dead, welcome to my hell." he said.

"fuck you." i said.

"i wish only to help." he said.

"how can you help."

"well if you're willing to go for a trip... we can get your soul back into your body."

"why can't i climb in by myself." i said. he laughed.

"you're a ghost not a soul." he said laughing.

"so." i said "thats like the same thing."

"oh you're hopeless." he said putting his hoof to his face. "a ghost is ourself...but the soul is what binds everything together. if you die normally which you didn't you're ghost would have ascended with your soul but it didn't... so now you're stuck in the void... but i can help."

"how can you help... all you've ever done is cause me pain."

"if you're willing to go on a journey with me... we can get your soul back." he said.

"why are you helping me." i said.

"because with you dead that means i'm stuck here too." he said getting angry. "and quite frankly i fucking hate this place already... it was much funner in your body... i especially liked the honeymoon." he said with a smile.

"you sick... gah, you can feel everything i can."

"you fool with me binded to you i'm the innermost part of you. you are yourself but i...i am the one that makes you strong."

"i was strong before you showed up." i said. we were locked in quite the verbal debate.

"ah yes...yes you were. passively you were strong... you're soul was strong... you're body was weak... now, now they are both strong, you are the ultimate warlock...a true bringer of doom and horror... if only you were blacker at heart you would have destroyed equestria and slain the princess." he started smiling, getting lost in the possibilities.

"too bad for you i'm not like that." i said. i smiled back and he laughed.

"yes that is too bad... now shall we" he said. i thought about this... but then i remembered that i'm already dead and my family and friends needed me. what have i to lose.

"alright... this better work."

"marvelous... so the journey begins." he said. he started walking and i followed him. we eventually left on to the main road and left ponyville.

"where are we going." i asked. he looked back and smiled.

"to the gates of tartarus" he said with a smile.

"this isn't going to be easy is it." i asked.

"hopefully not." he said. "we have to make our way to the north. the gated are in the frozen wastes in a cave that cannot be seen without a purpose that is but purely good." he said "so i can't find it without you." he said.

i sighed and just rolled my shoulder and walked on. and on...and on. by the end of the day we had made enough progress to clear ponyville twenty times over. it was starting to get cold and the night came around. i wasn't tired or hurting. but it was cold.

we trudged our way through. eventually it started to snow. lightly at first but as the night cleared and the morning arose the snowfall picked up and the forest had started to clear. we have been walking for a day already and we've made it this far. we didn't talk ever...

"how far now." i asked. no response from him. "if you want my help you have to talk back you know."

"it's about another days travel to the edge of the frozen wastes." he said. great . i thought. we continued our way through. the forest had cleared showing a large gaping chasm. i bet that's the way we go.

the demon walked over and started to climb his way down. i walked over and did the same. he jumped down and plummeted into the darkness. no way i'm doing that. but it was too late. my grip failed me and my hoof slipped of the ice covered ledge and i fell. i fell all the way to the bottom. i hit the ground and i was ready to yell out in pain but there was no pain. i just hit the ground.

that was it i was aware that i hit the ground but it felt like... well nothing, i had no feelings. it was only strange that i was cold. but i digress.i got up and looked around. a place like this should have been pitch black but i could see perfectly. i saw my demon walking forwards and i rushed up behind him. after a bit of walking the ground started getting a bit wet.

soon enough there was a large body of water blocking our path. i looked over it and it stretched out for miles. i was about to walk in and start swimming but the demon stopped me.

"touch not the waters of the river of styx... if you do you're soul will be damned for all time to hell with no chance of escape."

"well then how do we cross." i asked. he looked beyond me and smiled.

"behold the boatman of the river styx wanders near." he said pointing behind me. i looked back and saw a tiny dot on the distance. after a few minutes it grew larger and i made it out to be a boat of some kind. it finally grew much closer and it was indeed a boat.

it was a simple row boat with a tall skinny man operating the row. he had on dark brown robes that covered his face. the boat was rickety and old. he docked on the ledge and gestured us to leave.

"come not this far for beyond this point there is no return." he said. he had a scary voice. i climbed on anyway and so did the demon. "you have been warned." he said. he started rowing again and i sat down.

"good were making good time." said the demon. "the journey over the styx river is a four hour journey." he said. i sat down and let out a big sigh.

"how did this ever happen." i said to myself.

"because you allowed it to happen." said the demon.

"i did all i could." i yelled at him.

"did you really... you've seen the signs, i've shown you the power you have and yet you refuse to use it... you are too careful... you need to be strong... you're pain is mine as well and i refuse to let you make a mockery further by misusing my powers." he said.

"you child of light." said the river boatman pointing to me. "you are the offspring of hope and darkness are you not."

"i... i guess." i said confused as to what he was talking about.

"death has been on the search for you... he will be pleased." said the boatman.

"you're taking me to death." i said in an angry voice to the demon.

"he is the only one that can help you."

"you better be right about this." i said glaring at him... he just laughed. i sat down and closed my eyes while the boat crossed the river. i opened my eyes again and we were still on the water. about a few hours later i could make out land and...ponies. i looked over and saw a bunch of pale translucent looking ponies. they were just standing around talking to each other.

"behold the gates." said the boatman.

"what's with all the ponies standing around."

"they like you have been doomed to wander aimlessly for eternity." said the boatman.

"they're waiting to see death so that he may save them or judge them."

"and how is he supposed to help me." i said.

"he has your soul." said the demon. that's all i needed to hear. i waited a few minutes and the boat docked on the bay of the gates. i looked over the sea of ponies . they were all quietly arguing about something. we got off the boat and it departed again.

i started walking through the crowd and the ponies started looking away and moving. they looked at me and seemed terrified. they looked at the demon and seemed even more terrified.

"why are they so scared." i asked.

"because you have a demon with you." he said. "normally demons eat these kinds of souls for a snack but i can't do that while bound to you." he said. that was a disturbing fact to dwell on.

"so how do we get to death." i asked.

"simple." said the demon "we wait."

"i don't have time to wait..." he said.

"well you are stronger than these ponies... you have me, push your way through." that sounded like a good idea. i stepped forward and tapped the pony in front of me. he looked back and his eyes shrunk he yelled and ran away. the other ponies looked around to see what happened and they started fleeing as well.

i pushed my way through the crowd and i grew closer to the gates. eventually there was a split in the line and it branched off into the gates and off onto a different direction. there were almost noponies walking through the path that doesn't lead through the gates.

"take this path..." said the demon pointing to the left path away from the gates. "the gates of tartarus will bring nothing but damnation... the left path will bring you to the mid planes of purgatory...deaths light castle is a three day travel from here."

"THREE DAYS" i yelled.

"yes three days... nothing is easy fool. now lets go, you're physical presence is revolting." he said and he walked forward. there is no way i'm going to be here for three days. i remembered that i had wings. i looked back and to my surprise i didn't have wings anymore. "it is against the law for any being to escape punishment with his or her natural abilities... you will find everypony here is of the land." he said.

i looked around and he was right. there were no pegasus or unicorns anywhere just earth ponies. i guess that makes sense in a weird way. i sucked it up and walked forward though i wasn't happy about this.

we started walking and eventually we came across a giant three headed dog. it was just laying there sleeping. i started to move away and the demon stopped me in my tracks.

"fear not of cerberus... he is no threat to us at this crossing, he simply sleeps for all is silent and all souls are being punished."

"can you stop speaking in cryptic riddles." i said.

"he sleeps because he serves to protect... he keeps the damned in place so they may not escape." he said. we walked past and the third head opened it's eyes. it growled at us and went back to sleep. we finally made it past cerberus and into the mid plane of purgatory.

it was like a desert but full of sin. the ground and hills were a deadly grey and there were black clouds in the sky. there were wayward ponies walking around and crying. there were some sort of demon flying guards flying around in the sky. and the ground was littered with skeletons.

"let us go." said the demon.

"alright." i said and we made our way in through the desert. what felt like hours on our journey must have only been a few minutes because i could still see cerberus. a few hours passed and a wave of darkness washed over the land.

"demon... what is this." i said as a strong wind blew my hair out of my face. "what's happening."

"the demons of hell are here to claim the souls of the ripe so they may burn." he said.

"we need to hide."

"fear not you fool... you are not to be claimed... it would be unjust."

"what do you care for injustice."

"i may not care but the gods do... and imbalance can cause great faults." he said. the winds kept blowing and winged demons flew from the sky. they swooped down and started picking up the stray ponies that were running in fear.

after a while there were almost no ponies left and then the winds stopped and the skies cleared.

"what did i just see." i said.

"the judging of the damned." said the demon.

"why were they all damned...surely they were not all evil." i asked. i was hoping to see a few ponies get lifted up by some great light.

"the ones that are evil are tempted to walk the path of it... thus are lead here to the storms of hell without being aware of it." he said. "now enough questions. the less you know the better it will be."

i decided to take his advice and be quiet. and we continued to walk. and walk, and walk. we walked for a day and i was growing sluggish. i thought being dead would give me an efficiency of stamina but i guess not. i saw that the demon however was still walking strong. eventually we came to a river. oh thank god water.

i walked over and the demon jumped on me. he pulled me away from the water and slammed me against a rock.

"you fool... drink not from the river of sin..." he said letting me go and i hit the floor. "it will tempt you to diverge from this quest and you will be damned like all before it." he said.

i looked over at the river. at first it looked like a normal river but when i looked back it changed. the water was black and green and looked all slimy. there were bone and bodies floating in it and a thick fog covered the top. i almost puked.

"you see now the face truth... may you remember it." he said. i got up and we walked along the river until we came across a bridge. we walked over the bridge and made it safely to the other side.

"uhm... thank you for... saving me." i said. it was painful to say but i felt like i needed to say it.

"silence." the demon said. "i didn't do it for you... i would have been damned as well for aiding you... i did this for myself and not you." he said. well then. we continued on our quest.

it was about another day before i saw a small sparkle off in the distance. i was getting tired and thirsty and hungry and...and...dammit i'm going insane. i keep seeing things in my head that just look like strange creatures and shadows.

i couldn't tell if they were real or fake. i don't know where we are so they could be real as far as i'm concerned. but i've been getting dizzy. i kept having flashbacks. memories of everything i've done wrong. they started at the beginning from when i was born. i've been seeing things i don't even remember doing but it brought up the memory.

i'm up to when i was eight and i ran away from home. i was gone for a day and the police were looking for me. i was just hiding under a bridge with nothing but a lantern and a sleeping bag. they only caught me when i went to go get some food at the supermarket. oh god i'm going mad.

"don't let you past cloud your judgment." said the demon. "death is aware of your presence and he is testing you. you must be strong the castle is but hours away." he said.

"oh god i'm so thirsty and tired. just let me sit down for a second."

"no you cannot." he said

"just a second please." i begged but he grabbed me and pulledme up.

"YOU CANNOT... YOU CANNOT EAT... YOU CANNOT SLEEP...YOU CANNOT DRINK...YOU ARE DEAD AND YOU'RE FRIENDS NEED YOU... YOU NEED TO FIGHT... YOU WORTHLESS MORTAL... YOU DON'T GET IT..."

"GET OFF OF ME." i said pushing him away. "YOU DON'T THINK I'M TRYING."

"YOU ARE NOT TRYING." he yelled back. "TRYING IS RISKING YOU'RE LIFE FOR EVERYTHING... YOU HAVE TO GO BEYOND WHAT YOU ARE." he said.

"STOP YELLING AT ME." i said covering my ears.

"A CHALLENGE IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU STRONG... ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE IS GROWN WEAK AND IT'S PATHETIC... YOU NEED TO FIGHT." he said i was going to lose it.

"i said... stop...YELLING AT ME." i said and the ground shook. he laughed.

"you see that..." he said. the ground cracked and lava began to spew out of the crevices. "that is power... you are strong... you're soul doesn't belong here and it is fighting... help it fight." he said.

"what's going on."

"this place has become unstable." he said running away "quickly move." he said and i followed him. we jumped over cracks and crevices. and eventually the ground broke from beneath us. i made a jump and he did too. we landed safely on stable ground and i looked down into the gaping hole in purgatory.

there was nothing but sharp rocks and fire. it was hell. there were ponies burning and screaming as they were crushed by rocks and burned to death... or not to death but just burned. it was horrible. i turned away and walked forward to the light in the distance.

it was about another three hours before the castle took it's shape in the distance. the castle continuously grew brighter with every minute we drew closer. it hurt to look but i couldn't look away.

about two hours later we had neared the doorstep. we walked forward and it was surrounded by a lake of lava. i was going to yell to get someones attention in the castle but the drwr bridge dropped down and landed in front of us.

"bare yourself." said the demon. "death is cold and unfeeling... he is also quick witted with a silver tongue... be vigilant." he said. we walked forward and into the castle. i looked around and we eventually found ourselves in some kind of garden. we stood there.

the air around us grew cold and all the plants and grass around us died and shriveled up. there was a certain feeling in the air and a dark shadow fell over us. it concentrated into a visible shape and solidified. standing before us was a giant demon

he bore a scythe that was stained in blood and forged from the bones of the damned. he had a robe as black as night and a hood that covered his face. his bony hands were frigid and sharp. he floated on a cloud of shadows and beat his evil demon wings.

"you." he said in a hoarse voice pointing to me. "you." he repeated.

"don't toy with me death." i said. that was about all the strength i could muster up... i was afraid... genuinely afraid.

"you are...something else..." he said "i've seen hero's come and go... most ascend with the light... hero's such as hercules... leonidas... perseus... and now standing before me... the hero of two worlds... you are something." he said.

i wasn't sure weather or not to be afraid or if i should take it as a complement. i was still afraid though. every breath that escaped his mouth was a rush of cold air that chilled my bones.

"i would have wished... to see you acquire greatness... is that why you are here... a second chance..." said death.

"you know damn well why i'm here." i said summoning more bravery.

"aah...a second chance then..." he said. he reached his hand out and opened it. in his skeletal hand he held a small ball of light. i looked into it and saw myself. in every aspect of my life ever since i was a kid up until i'm a pony now. i literally saw my life flash before my eyes.

" don't look too deep into your soul you fool... you'll get lost." said the demon. death closed his hand and pulled away. he laughed. his laugh echoed through all of purgatory.

"an offer like this is rare." he said. i looked over to my demon.

"you have to make a deal with him..." he said.

"what kind of deal."

"well you can promise your soul to hell." he said.

"other options."

"you can offer to give him another soul... one that is either powerful or pure."

i sat down and started thinking. i didn't know what to do. i thought about my family. dash... oh god dash i'm so sorry for all of this... if only you could hear me now. and my friends. twilight, fluttershy, applejack, rarity, pinkie, spike, derek. oh god.

and my kids scootaloo and dawn... they must be heartbroken. oh no. baby dawn... the poor thing loves me and now i can never see her again if i don't figure this out. i guess i have no real choice but to promise my soul to burn in hell when i die... that brought a tear to my eye.

i thought some more for any way out...but there weren't any. i'm sorry dash. i'm sorry scootaloo. and i'm sorry dawn. i hope dash can control you when you get older. and the demons that were put inside...wait...that's it. i smiled and started laughing.

"alright death... i offer to you the soul of my child."

"your child dawns soul will soon." i cut him off.

"no...my other child." i said.

"the one you call scootaloo is not your child and therefore you have no control over her soul."

"i'm not talking about scootaloo either." i looked over to my demon and his eyes grew wide. he pounced on me.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE." he yelled at me showing his fangs.

"SILENCE DEMON." i said pushing him off. i looked back to death. " death i have two children. when i slept with my wife and she was impregnated i was under the influence of a demon. my genes and his mixed and she birthed two children. one of flesh and one of darkness."

"you are smart mortal." said death.

"I'LL KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY." said my demon. running at me. something stopped him. it was death.

"touch not the mortal." he said.

"death i offer up the demon that resides in the soul of my child dawn." i said. the demon fell silent and death laughed.

"you are far more than i had hoped mortal." he said. he held open both hands. in one was my soul. the great ball of light, and in the other was a small dark pony my demon son... i had no regrets about this.

death crushed the demon pony in his palm and the ball of light in the other. the ball burst into a dust like substance that flowed through the air and wrapped itself around me. it did the same to the demon. it pulled us together and i smiled. i did it.

i watched as the demon began to struggle but as out two bodies merged i could feel my power returning. there was a bright flash in the distance and it grew brighter, and brighter. soon all i could see was light. then in the light death stood before me. what now.

"you..." he said beckoning to me "you have truly prevailed... most have failed the test."

"so they were all damned." i asked.

"no... not all, most made it... but to the cost of something dear... but you... you have seen trouble... and caused it as well... you are truly something else." he said

"is this going anywhere."

"no..." he said. "you are the only one to pass the test... take this." he said. he handed me something. it was a small stone... it had ancient inscriptions on it and it glowed with energy.

"what is this and why are you giving this to me." i asked.

" you deserved it..." he said "it is a piece of great magic... it's capable of granting your hearts desire." he said.

"this is a trick isn't it." i said.

"it is not the role of death to lead the living closer to hell... it is real." he said. "now go..." he said. he cast out his hand and everything went black and he disappeared. i opened my eyes and i was awake... i looked around me and i was in a coffin... dammit not again.

i got up expecting there to be a bunch of ponies but there weren't. it was just me in here. i was in some kind of gathering building. it was huge. it made the place out to be the great hall of castle canterlot.

i looked over and the place was well decorated. i was at my own wake. there was nopony here though. i looked behind me and there was a giant golden cross. it broke my heart to know they loved me this much. i looked around.

i couldn't have missed it. they would have moved the casket and buried me already. it was probably going to happen soon. i looked back at the cross. i looked in the coffin and saw the tablet. i picked it up and it glowed furiously when i touched it... anything my heart desires.

no... i'm going to use this for something important... right now i need to turn to the only person that can help me god. i knelt up against the casket and cupped my hooves. i started praying and i bowed my head.

i prayed for 30 minutes before i could hear the shuffling of hooves at the doorway. i could hear the ponies crying. the sound of tears hitting the floor. i kept praying. i could hear them growing closer and eventually the doors swung open.

there was silence. i stood up and looked up at the cross. i looked behind me to all the faces. they were silent. i wanted to smile but there silence was to discerning. i just kept a straight face and looked over them. most of their mouths were agape and other were cringed with fear. they had every right to feel however they felt.

"he's a demon." said one of the ponies.

"hell on earth." said another "kill him." they all started chanting. i don't think i came back at a good time. i stepped backward and the crowd started drawing near. i didn't want to fight them all off. but i didn't know most of them. i was about to fight when there was a bright flash.

soon enough the princess stood before the whole crowd. they all stopped in their tracks. she looked down on them and glared. i couldn't see her face fully but she seemed pissed.

"HOW DARE ALL OF YOU" she said with her voice booming. it wasn't like her to yell. and i can't remember her ever yelling before. "THIS IS A MIRACLE AND YOU TREAT IT LIKE SOME OMEN." she said booming again.

the crowd started to act up and protest. the ponies started talking about how it was unholy and unnatural. but i think she had enough.

"SILENCE." she said. it felt like the whole earth had gone quiet. "NONE OF YOU ARE WORTHY TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THIS ROOM OR THE CASTLE ALONE... LEAVE." she shouted. the ponies turned around and left. most mumbling to themselves. everypony was gone. i looked around hoping to see my friends but they weren't here.

"where are my friends." i said.

"it's good to see you're alright." she said.

"princess i've been through a lot where are my..." i stopped i looked closely at the princess.

"what's wrong."

"princess..." i said "have you always had blue eyes." i said. looking at her. she blinked and they were green. "now there green." i said. "alright what are you doing and why am i still asleep.

"dammit." said the princess in a man's voice...more specifically a demons voice. the room went black and faded to white. the princess changed into the demon and he stood there looking like he was going to pounce.

"nice try." i said.

"i swear i will find a way to get out of here and i will destroy you and everything you've come in contact with." he said.

"what happened to those cryptic riddles you used to love speaking in." i said.

"you fool i never wanted to help you... i was leading you to death so that you would promise you're soul to eternal damnation."

"and why would you go through all that trouble."

"because i hate you so much." he said. "and now i hate you more." he said.

"well you're the one who told me to fight ... and now i'm fighting... and i'm using your powers however i like." i said "now let me wake up."

"NEVER." he said charging at me. he jumped and bore his fangs. a bright light shone from my body and knocked him back. he hissed at the light and writhed on the ground covering his face. he soon dissipated and there was darkness again.

i opened my eyes to see that i was in a hospital. i was alone now. i looked at the monitor i was hooked up to. it still said that i wasn't breathing and that my heart rate is 1 beat per minute. i brought my hoof to my heart and it was right. i couldn't feel a pulse. i took a deep breath and the heart rate started to rise. after a few minutes it was back to normal.

i looked down because i felt some weight on my chest. it was the tomb. so that part wasn't a dream. i really had this thing. i picked it up and it was heavier than i thought. it weighed like 20 pounds and i almost dropped it. i heard footsteps at the door and slid the tomb under my pillow. i faked sleep.

i couldn't see what was happening but i could hear voices. three ponies rushed around me from what i could tell. they started whispering a few things and i could feel them take the IV cables and the heart monitor plugs off of me. i then felt the gurney start rolling. i guess they were rolling me to another room.

i kept fake sleeping and i could hear a few doors open and close. i felt the gurney come to a stop and a few more whispers filled the room. i heard the ponies leave and i opened one eye slowly. the room was empty. i woke up and sat up as well. this is always the hardest part. the comeback, now i have to think about every possibility and then approach it uniquely.

i looked around and i was in a similar room. infact, i think this is the same room i was just in. i looked around a bit more. it is, this is the same room. why did they just start wheeling me around. you know what... i don't care. i rested my head back down and stared up at the ceiling. i just stared. i was bored.

i heard footsteps at the door again and i faked sleep again. i heard the door burst open and somepony ran over.

"crimson...crimson wake up please." i heard. it was dash.

"crimson buddy wake up you're scaring everypony." said another voice. it was derek. "c'mon buddy. wake up." he said. they started shoving my body. i slowly opened my eyes and looked around. all my friends were there. i smiled lazily.

"damn..." i said "if i had 20 bits for every time i woke up with somepony crying over me." i said.

"you'd be one rich son of a bitch you selfish bastard." said dash punching me in the face. that hurt.

"ow... what the fuck." i said. i was angry and a bit of hatred flared inside of me. i was even getting ready to punch back. but i remembered that it was dash.

"don't you ever die on me you ass." she said. she hugged me. "i love you so much." she said. i looked over to twilight

"she's been having mood swings ever since you died... which is a story that you are going to tell everypony... right." she said.

"it's not very interesting." i said. "lotta fire lotta death... literally, death was there and he gave me this." i said. i picked up the tablet from under my pillow and held it up.

"dude... the fuck." said thunder rush.

"i'm not sure how it works but he said that it will grant my hearts desire." i said. "or whatever that means"

"i haven't seen one of those in almost a thousand years." said a familiar voice. i looked over and saw the princess.

"princess." said everypony. they all bowed except for me and derek.

"good to see that you passed deaths challenge." she said.

"deaths what." said twilight.

"there are some things twilight, that are better left unknown to those who do not need to know it." said the princess. wisest words i've ever heard. dash let go of me and looked back over the bed. she started crying.

i wiped the tears from her eyes and she stopped crying. it hurt to see her like this. it really did. how she's stayed by my side is a true mystery.

"no don't cry." i said. i started tearing up myself. "you must think i'm the worst don't you..."

"no... no no no i don't." she said hugging me again "i love you so much... i you're so brave and loving and funny and kind and...and strong... i wish i could be as strong as you."

"baby you are strong though." i said i picked her up and put her on top of me and hugged her. "how you can stay with me is ridiculous... i've never seen somepony love as much as you." i said. i started crying myself. we both cried together.

"i don't think i've ever seen you cry sarge." said derek. "it kinda makes me wanna cry too." i could see a few tears in his eyes.

"you two really do love each other." said the princess. "it warms my heart to see that... i don't think i've seen love like this in a hundred years."

"so princess what is that stone that he has." said twilight. she walked over and picked it up and started looking at it. it glowed with energy.

"it's the rune of desire. it can grant any wish... anything that your heart desires." she said. she bowed her head down and said one more thing. "it could even send you and your friend back home... it could fix all of your problems back home." she said.

i froze for a second. everypony did. i could go home, have my family again. i could be with linda and my daughter sarah. we could lie together i my old house and i could tell her how much i loved her... i didn't even tell her i loved her when i left. i just said 'bye hun'.

"no alex." said thunder. "don't do it. you have a family here and this place is great." he said.

"i had a family back home." i said. dash looked up with a mix of horror and shock on her face, and sadness.

"crimson... you... you can't be serious." she said.

"i could wish everything back to normal dash... you wouldn't even know me... you wouldn't even remember me." i said.

"no...crimson... don't say that please... i... i love you." she said. she hugged me tight trying to keep me on the bed. "please don't" she said crying. i pushed her off of me and got up. "no please." she begged.

"twilight give it to me." i said.

"no... you selfish monster." she said

"twilight don't make me ask again." i said.

"no..." she said. i wanted that stone. i wanted to make everything right and make everypony happy. even if they like it or not. "you selfish bastard."

"TWILIGHT." i said shaking the room and starting to turn into my darker self. "GIVE ME THE STONE."i said. she used her magic to keep it away. i used one of my shadows to grab it from behind her back. i brought it over to myself.

applejack came over and bucked me in the head. i shouted at her and flung her into the wall. i put a shield around me and held the rune up to my face. and closed my eyes for only a minute. i looked back to see the rune glowing a fierce blue and shaking.

"i wish." i said.

"no..no crimson please." said dash hitting the shield i covered myself with. she was full on crying.

"you bastard." said twilight.

"you're a monster." said rarity.

"that's not very nice." said pinkie.

"i swear when i get to you i'll buck you in two." said applejack kicking the shield.

"STOP" yelled the princess. everypony froze and looked over. again it wasn't customary for the princess to yell. "i am very disappointed in all of you." she said. "this colt has done nothing but try and make everyponies lives better... think for a second, would he really do anything to harm us in any way." she said.

"i wish..." i said. the rune glowed and hummed violently in my hooves "i wish i was strong enough to make everypony happy and keep them safe." i said. the rune cracked and fell to the floor it broke and a green sort of light flew out of it. it started swirling around me.

i could feel myself changing. not physically but mentally. i started learning things. like how to fight. how to survive, how to kill efficiently. i could feel my strength growing. i yelled out in pain. it was excruciating. i looked over and watched as a bolt of lightning flew from me and hit my shield. it was a hard hit and the shield cracked.

"twilight." said the princess. "we must contain him." she said. she held her horn up and another shield covered mine. twilight did the same. another bolt of lightning flew from my body and destroyed my shield completely.

i roared out in pain and hit the ground. i watched as streams of green light forced their way into my body. it burned like hell on the inside. all i could soon see was a bright light and then nothing but that light. then there was a cloud of smoke. and emerging from that smoke was death.

"oh god i'm not dead am i." i said

"far from it child... you have made a noble choice... you soul is pure indeed... i wish to see you bound for heaven one day." he said i just stared intently. "you could have wished for... wealth...women...eternal life or you're old life back home...all those possibilities, and you chose to keep people happy... that was a nobel choice."

"what's with all the... being nice." i said.

"most people figure me for the follower of the devil... that is wrong. i am only death," he said

"so you're just the middleman." i said.

"exactly... i have feelings for no man who is bound to heaven or hell...but you... your soul pleases me. it will make an excellent addition when i can rightfully claim it." he said.

"uhm...thanks." i said.

"now awake champion...your friends are still here." he said. he disappeared and the are around me turned black. i think i just became friends with death...sweet. i opened my eyes slowly and looked around. i was still covered in the shield. i got up. twilight and the princess still had their horns glowing. i felt like i needed to...to...yell.

i spread my feet apart and planted myself on the ground firmly. i took a deep breath and the air around my mouth burned with energy. the floor under me cracked and i could hear and see everything. i looked around and all of my friends were smiling. to an extent.

"crimson...are you... are you alright." said twilight.

"RRRRHHAAAAAAAAAA" i yelled the whole room shook and the shields shattered to a fine dust. my roar soon turned into a hearty laugh. i looked around at the impressive mess that i have made. i closed my eyes and opened them again. and the mess was gone. everypony looked around and freaked because the mess was gone.

"what did you wish for." said rainbow.

"i wished that i was strong enough to keep everypony safe and happy." i said. i smiled at her. she jumped at me and tried to tackle me but i stood firmly on the ground. she just hung on to me. "i'm sorry i scared you baby." i said. "i was going to wish everything back to normal. but you guys were right... i wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

"i love you so much." said dash. my friends gathered around.

"i love you too." said twilight.

"us too." said applejack, pinkie, fluttershy, and rarity. thunder rush came up to me and smiled.

"sir in all the time i've known and served with you... i've never taken you for anything less as my best friend... the adventure's we've had and the things we've seen are incredible... but this is something else... i'm proud to be you're friend." he said smiling. "i love you too you crazy bastard."

"same to you." i said. the princess walked over and smiled at me.

"i know that you will always make the right choice... and i'd like to account you for a personal friend... you even taught me to have fun and not be so stiff and proper..." she said. that made me smile. "thank you crimson blast."

"thanks everypony... i love you all." i said. "and things around here will change... and this time they're changing for the better." i said. "and don't cry when i'm down... just wait alright." i said smiling. everypony laughed.

"c'mon crimson." said dash rubbing her hoof across my chest. "i have something at home for you." she said smiling.

"alright everypony." said the princess "why don't we let crimson and dash here go home. we can celebrate tomorrow."

"oh boy a party." said pinkie bouncing around the room. "let's have a party." she said.

i got up and started to walk out of the room. i picked up dash and threw her on my back and carried her.

"why are you carrying me." she said smiling. "because i love you and i never want to let you down." i said. she laughed and i made my way out of the hospital. thunder was following us. i walked out of the hospital and flew up into the air. i flew around ponyville a little bit with dash on my back. then i headed home.

when i got home i opened the door and saw thunder talking to scootaloo. she saw me and smiled. she ran over and almost started crying.

"daddy you alright." she said rubbing her head against my leg. "i missed you so much, they said you were dead but i didn't believe it for a second." she said.

"it's good to see my 8 year old daughter has more faith in me than my adult friends." i picked her up with my wings and held her up while dash climbed off of my back. i gave her a kiss on the forehead and put her down. i walked over to derek and sat down on the couch next to him.

i used my powers to levitate a sack of money over here. there were about 30 bits in this pouch. that should buy him out for a while. i whispered into his ear.

"there are thirty bit's in here. get the kids out of the house for about 3 hours." i said giving him the money.

"no problem sarge." he said smiling. "alright kiddies you're dad's really tired so why don't we go get some ice cream with your uncle thunder and let him rest." said thunder rush.

"cool ice cream." said scootaloo. "can i get chocolate." she said.

"sure kiddo get whatever you want." said thunder. "let me go get the baby and we can head out."

"i hope she's not too much of a handful." i said to derek.

"who baby dawn... not at all, she loves me." i said. he walked into the babies room and came out a few minutes later with a giggling baby dawn in a sling. he tickled the baby and she smiled and laughed.

"wait let me see her for a second." i said. he walked over and handed me the baby. i took her from the little sling blanket and held her close to my face. she smiled and grabbed my snout. i laughed and the laughter tickled her stomach. so she laughed too. "i missed you baby.. yes i did... yes i did." i said. i handed her back to derek and she smiled at him. he put her in the sling and headed out.

"now crimson you get as much rest as you can." he said and they left. he knew what we were going to do. i looked over to dash and smiled. she just smiled back seductively. she crawled over to me and kissed me on the lips. i closed my eyes. i felt the ground under us change and when i opened my eyes we were in the bedroom. on the bed specifically.

she opened her eyes and was scared for a second. but i calmed her down. i grabbed her and fell on top of her. she broke the kiss and looked at me. she smiled and rolled over until she was on top. she slowly started stroking my shaft with her hoof and it poked out of it's sheath. she crawled down and started licking it. soon it was nice had hard.

"oh sweet celestia." she said. "this thing got bigger." i looked down and she was right. it was huge.

"oh my god." i said. she laughed. she started stroking it with her tongue. she got to the top and put the tip into her mouth. she flicked the tip with her tongue and started pushing down. she couldn't make it all the way down now. only most of it would fit. she started sucking on it and massaging it with her tongue. "oh yeah." i said.

she started sucking harder and faster. i could feel myself about to blow. she pulled the monster from her mouth and smiled. she climbed back up and aligned it with her lower lips. she smiled and slowly started pushing down. she moaned and bit her lip.

"oh shit that's amazing." she said. she got all the way down and bit her lip. i started bucking my hips slowly and she moaned. after a few minutes her eyes started to roll back into her skull and her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth. she was happy.

i felt the pressure building up in my groin again but i held it in. she started making a few cute sex noises and i kept grunting and moaning. we were being a bit loud. good thing i live alone in the woods. it's not really that far away. the path's only like 1/8 of a mile. dash let out a loud moan and splattered her juice everywhere.

i started bucking my hips harder and faster and she fell on top of me. completely unable to keep herself up she just fell on top of me. i moved my hooves up over to her back and kept bucking as hard as i could.

it was a few more minutes later and it was already a half hour in. i was sure dash was going to fall into some kind of trance if i didn't stop soon so i let the pressure well up in my groin. dash let out another loud moan and covered the bed in juice. that threw me over and i came right in her. semen poured out of her pussy like a waterfall and soaked the bed. i started breathing harder and shot another load into her. i was done and exhausted. i poked dash to make sure she was still alive but she still had her tongue sticking out of her mouth and she just kinda started drooling.

i removed my schlong from her lower lips and more cum spilled out onto the bed. it was a mess down there. i used my shadows to levitate a cloth out of the bathroom and wiped up the mess. i was going to have to change the sheets. i looked at the clock and it had only been 45 minutes. oh god dash must be in perfect ecstasy. she was still drooling and her eyes were still rolled into the back of her head. it was kinda funny.

"dash..."i said "are you alright." i was trying not to laugh but it was pretty funny. i waited...no response. "dash c'mon baby say something."

"that... was...THE BEST...sex...ever." she said. i laughed. she pulled her tongue back into her mouth and her eyes moved onto me. she gave me a big kiss and i rolled her onto her side. laid there and made out for a while and i started playing around with dash's hair. "i love you so much." she said.

"i love you too baby." i said. i gave her another kiss and checked the clock. we still had like an hour. "hey we still have an hour." i said.

"oh no... i can't feel my legs i can't do that again." she said. i laughed.

"once again i left you with no feeling in your legs." i said. "i must be good." i said.

"the best." she replied with a smile on her face. i smiled too and kissed her again. she laughed and laid there. "so why did you change your mind." she asked. "you could have fixed your whole life." she said.

"because you guys were right... i was being selfish." i said.

"your lying...theres more to it than that." she said. "now tell me." she said.

"alright... i can't lie to you." i said. i took a deep breath. "i was serious at first. then i remembered how horrible my world was... i loved my family... but i need to learn to let go... so i stayed here and i'm stronger now so that i can hold on and not have to let go." i said.

"thats sweet." said dash giving me a little kiss. "i love you crimson." she said.

"i love you too dashie." i said. "i just hope everything goes back to normal and there isn't much excitement anymore." i said

"to be honest." said dash. "i kinda liked the excitement.".

"yeah i do too... but it usually gets me hurt, or in this case killed."

"yeah but nothing can kill you... and you proved that..." she said. she scooted over and nuzzled against me. "and no matter what happens i will never leave you." she said. i hugged her and pulled her into me.

"and i will never leave you either dash...i'm sorry for the way things have been lately but that's over now... were going to grow old together and watch our little children blossom into fine adults... and i will protect us every step of the way." i said.

"thanks baby." she said. i could hear the door open downstairs and the sound of hoof steps walking in.

"dad were back." i heard scootaloo say.

"c'mon." i said "lets go get something to eat." i said. dash laughed.

"i can't get up." she said.

"you really can't feel your legs can you." i said.

"barely." she said. i laughed and walked over. i thought for a second. i kissed her on both of her hooves and they sprung to life. "oh my sweet celestia... they work now... that's way cool." she said. she got up and trotted around. "whatever that thing did to you it's really useful." she said.

we both walked downstairs and greeted our children. i said hi to scoots and derek. he handed me baby dawn and she was a mess with ice cream. she giggled and rubbed her face with her hooves. i smiled and walked into the kitchen.

i filled the sink and put her in there. she started splashing around in the water and made a mess. i washed her up and got the sticky ice cream off of her face. she kept playing in the water and started kicking it around everywhere. i grabbed a towel and dried her off. i picked her up and put her in the high chair.

dash walked in and grabbed some baby food and put it in a bowl. she started feeding dawn and i was busy making food for the rest of us. i opened the fridge and saw that all my food was back.

"thanks for restocking my fridge derek." i said.

"yeah sorry about raiding your fridge that one time." he said "i was lost in the woods for 2 days and i was freaking starving." he said from the living room.

"it's fine. as long as you restocked it." i said. "hey have you gotten a house yet... or even a job." i asked.

"i don't have enough money yet to balance out rent. and i've already applied for a job at the club as a bouncer." he said.

"you're kidding." i said.

"nope. starting tuesday i'll be the bouncer for club scratch." he said. i kept making food. i was going to make apple cabbage stew but we didn't have any apples. so i just made some vegetable soup. "i'm working the midday shift." he said.

"good. the night shift is when the real freaks come out." i said.

"where do you work." said derek.

"yeah baby what is your job." dash said in a sarcastic voice.

"i've made my living collecting treasure and rewards." i said. "but i guess i could go hunt some more." i said.

"he likes to raid dragon caves and steal the gold there."

"oh dude freaking sweet." he said. "next time you go you have to take me with you." he said.

"it was that one time almost six months ago." i said.

"yeah but you really hauled it in that time." said dash. "besides you're running low baby." she said. she was right.

"alright thunder... tomorrow you and me are going treasure hunting." i said.

"sweet." he said.

"i don't like the concept of stealing gold from dragons." said dash.

"c'mon dash do you really think a dragon applied for a job and earned that money." i said. "he probably burned down a hundred villages and looted it all. technically is noponies money and up for grabs." i said.

" i guess you're right." she said.

"besides ponies do it all the time." i said.

"yeah but ponies get hurt and die most of the time."

"yeah but i'm going..." i said "i can more than handle myself."

"i know you can but what about thunder over here." said dash.

"yeah im not super special like you." he said. "and may i add quite flammable." he said. i laughed.

"that's alright..." i said. "i have a few things you can borrow to help out." i said. i finished up dinner and we all sat down and ate. when we finished i put scootaloo and baby dawn to bed. derek took his bed on the couch and me and dash went back upstairs.

we laid down under the covers and i hugged her. i closed my eyes and slowly went to sleep. i smiled as i was flung into the land of dreams. i dreamt of my family back on earth. and i smiled.

it's good to be back.


	45. Chapter 45: A Face For Adventure

i opened my eyes slowly and got up. i walked out of the room and made sure not to wake up dash. i walked over to the bathroom and ran my face under some cold water. i looked at myself. i had changed over the night. it was kinda scary. i had some scars or something running over my body. it looked like some kind of intricate pattern. i was freaking out a bit.

"yes." said a voice in the back of my head. "too much power has disfigured you... just what you deserve." it was my demon mocking me. i looked in the mirror some more. i had strange scars all over my body. one of my pupils was the normal hazel the other was red. my hair had grown longer and changed to have a white frost over it. same with my tail. i opened my mouth and i had canine teeth. like a human. ponies don't have those.

i stepped back and stared. i was quite frankly mortified. i turned and heard a knock on the door. my heart stopped and i quickly pulled a towel over my head.

"are you almost done in there." said dash. "i need to pee." she said.

"yeah just...1 sec." i said.

"is everything alright." she said. "do you want any help or something." she said.

"no no. i just...hold on alright." i said.

"crimson you're freaking me out." she said "i'm coming in." she swung open the door and i didn't have any time to respond and she saw me. her jaw dropped and i just kinda smiled. which was not a smart move because i was showing my fangs now.

"uhhh..." was the only thing to escape my mouth.

"i... wha... how... what happened." she said walking over. she looked me in the face. "what did you do." she said.

" i didn't do anything. the wish must have disfigured me over night."

"but but but why." she stammered. "you look..."

"ugly yeah i know." i said.

"no not ugly... different." she said. "it's not that bad." she said.

"really." i said.

"ehh... sort of." she said. "the eyes and uhh...are those fangs." she said.

"no their canine teeth... humans have them and we use them to eat meat." i said. smiling and licking my teeth. they were quite sharp.

"that's a disturbing fact." she said "and the scars are...interesting." she said. i flapped my wings and looked at them... at least those didn't change. what am i going to do now. "well it's not killing you so it's a start to a calmer life i suppose." she said smiling. i looked back into the mirror.

"oh god i'm hideous." i said. "and my mane... it's so filthy." i said.

"your mane looks nice."

"it's longer than yours." i said.

"i can put it into a fox tail for you." she said.

"what's a fox tail." i asked.

"it's like a ponytail...but spikey." she said.

"i guess." i said. she walked over and pulled my mane back and started fiddling with it. "how do you know how to do this." i asked.

"i used to keep my hair in a fox tail when i was a teenager." she said. "i was a bit of a tomboy."

"oh god this sucks." i said.

"hey i haven't even finished." she said.

"i'm talking about all of this." i said.

"at least you're still recognizable." she said. she kept messing with my hair and when she was done she pulled me in front of the mirror. it didn't look too bad. it was all spikey and it didn't stick up that much. i still had a few lock hanging down on my shoulders. it looked... rustic and different. i gave dash a little kiss.

"it looks great babe." i said.

"thanks" she said. "now i think you should get going... don't you have some treasure hunting to do." she said biting my neck gently. i chuckled.

"alright baby... i'll go get derek and we'll bring back something nice" i said.

"i'll be waiting here." she said. i got up and quietly walked down the stairs. derek was still sleeping. i walked over. he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping... so i kicked him off the couch and he woke up.

"wha...what." he said he looked at me. "jesus...fuck." he said backing into the coffee table and hitting his head. "what the fuck happened." he said staring in disbelief.

"nothing... i just woke up." i said.

"don't freaking do that." he said.

"do what." i asked.

"scare me with your face." he said. i laughed. "god take off the mask." he said.

"it's not a mask... the power mutated me over night" i said.

"jesus christ." he said getting up. he looked over my face intently.

"see anything you like." i said. i laughed at my own bad joke.

"i'm not sure..." he said. "so are we uh...going to hunt dragons." he said.

"yeah sure... but we should suit you up." i said. "wait here." i said. i walked upstairs and into my room. i grabbed my armour out of the closet and the sword out of the corner of the room. i heard the water running and dash was showering. i grabbed all the stuff and brought it downstairs. i gave it to him.

"wha... what is this." he said.

"armour...put it on." i said. he started putting it on but got confused. so i put it on for him. he looked at himself. and i put the helmet on and the sword in the sheath. he walked into the babies room and looked in the mirror.

"woah dude...this stuff is sick... where did you get it." he asked.

"a little city just outside of equestria to the north." i said. "it was a bit expensive but it was worth it." i said. "besides i just used it temporarily cuz i have my own armour."

"let me see yours." he said. he walked in and looked over to me. i closed my eyes and opened them. they glowed black and to my surprise the scars on my body glowed as well. they glowed dark black and soon shadows from all over the house converged to my body and engulfed it in shadows. they took shape and formed my own spikey armour. it was different though. it covered most of my body and it made sort of dragon like spikes on my back.

it covered my wings which changed as well and my hair lit up into a shadowy flame. my teeth sharpened and the canine teeth i had before were full on fangs. i could feel the energy running through my body. soon the shadows weaved themselves into a mask and hood with cape. it looked boss. the mask resembled a skull of a dragon but looked like it was made out of metal. i looked over myself. and i looekd sick.

"holy shit dude. that is the single coolest thing i've ever seen." said derek.

"my armour didn't used to look like this... it used to be more simple." i said. "but it is pretty sick." i looked at the ground. i was dripping with some kind of smoky looking liquid that splashed on the ground and rushed back over to my armour. i was smokin too. literally there was black fog coming off of my armour and it just dissipated in the air. "c'mon lets go." i said.

"alright bro... lets go kill us some dragons." he said. we started our way to the door but he stopped. "wait...don't dragons breath fire." he said.

"don't worry." i said. "the armour you're wearing is made from dragons and is protected by a flame shield" i said.

"where did you get all this cool stuff." he said.

"i've been around." i replied. "now c'mon lets go get some stuff." i said. i grabbed my saddle bags in the corner of the hall and put them on. we headed out and we were off." "now we are going to have to walk through some of ponyville to get to a good entrance." i said "and probably pass twilight's house."

" let's stop and scare twilight." he said. i laughed, he read my mind.

"alright." i said. we started walking down the path to my house and eventually made it to the ponyville main road. it was early so there weren't many ponies. but any that were on the street recognized us instantly." they rushed over and started asking questions.

"didn't know you were so famous." he said.

"yeah i've been helping around... i'm a town hero." i said. i looked down when i felt somepony tapping on me. i looked down to see a small little foal with brown hair and spotted fur.

"mr. crimson." he said. i stopped and looked down at him. "i haven't met you before. but my friends keep telling me cool stories about how you saved ponyville and stuff. and i wanted to say hi...so, hi." he said. i chuckled.

"nice to meet you." i said. "now why don't you go run off and tell your friends i said hello." he smiled and ran off.

"you always had to be the hero." said thunder.

"yep." i said. we kept walking and one mare stopped me. she had a cream colored coat and red and pink hair. she had a picture of a flower for her cutie mark.

"oh crimson... do you think you could introduce me to your friend here." she said looking over to derek. i smiled "i'm roseluck" she said.

"sure." i said. "one moment." i looked back over to derek. "dude this chick like you... talk her up." i said.

"no way she likes...me." he said. i pushed him over to her. and they both blushed. i was still being covered by other ponies and he was talking to the one mare. i listened in to their conversation and the ponies around me wanted me to sign some stuff for them.

"so uh..." said roseluck. "i'm roseluck. who are you." she said.

"i'm uh... thunder rush." he said.

"oh uh well thunder... how do you know crimson." she said.

"oh well we're old friends from out of ponyville... when he moved here i guess i missed him and decided to move in too." he said. nice lying skills.

"oh that's cool..." she said.

"yeah he's a really great guy... i just can't believe how much he has changed." he said.

"yeah i know... when i first met him he was just a regular colt... in fact he bought an apartment from me for awhile." she said. oh that was right. i knew i recognized her face from somewhere

"oh that's cool." he said. after the crowd around me disbanded i walked back over to derek. i put a hoof on his shoulder.

"c'mon we gotta get going." i said.

"yeah just a sec." he said.

"where are you guys going." she said.

"just on a little treasure hunt into the woods... maybe fight a few creatures or something." he said brushing his armour.

"oh that's so cool... can i come with you guys." she said. "i promise i won't get in the way and you can keep the treasure. i just wanna watch." she said. derek looked over to me and smiled. i didn't like this but he was my friend.

"alright." i said. they both smiled. "she can come but you're responsible for her... though i'm not going to stand by and watch her get hurt... i want you to be there first." i said.

"don't worry remember how good i used to be with civilians in the army." he said. that was true. i once watched him pull four civilians out of a falling house.

"you guys were with the army... that's awesome." she said. we continued our way through town and eventually we got to twilights. we walked up and knocked on the door . "what are we doing here." asked roseluck.

"we're going to see a friend of ours twilight sparkle." he said.

"oh i know twilight... she's a pretty big deal around here too being one of the elemental bearers." she said. "and she buys fresh lilacs from me every week." the door swung open and twilight greeted us.

"hey crimson hey thunder... and uh... roseluck?" she said questionably.

"hi twilight." said roseluck happily.

"you guys are dressed for business" said twilight. she looked at me and cringed. "man especially you." she said to me. "where are you guys going."

"treasure hunting." i said.

"u-huh." she said. "so yesterday you were stone cold dead... and now you're going treasure hunting." she said.

"well i wanted to test out my new strenght see if i still got it." i said. "oh and we need you to cast flame shield on roseluck."

"you guys are bringing her with you." she said. i leaned in and whispered into twilight ear.

"look derek really likes this girl and she's nice." i said i pulled away. "she's just going to watch and plus were there to protect her." i said. "and you know what i'm like when it comes to protection." i said.

"yeah i know." she said. "alright c'mon roseluck, you guys can come in too." she said. we walked in and twilight went over to her chest of magical nick-nack's she pulled out a ruby necklace. she gave it to roseluck and she put it on. she glowed bright red for a second and was back to normal.

"cool." she said. "thanks twilight. the next batch of lilacs is on me." she said.

"alright." said twilight. she looked back over to me. "now do wanna tell me what's up with this new armour of yours. it's kinda scary." she said.

"if you wanna see scary then check out his face." said derek laughing at me and pointing.

"what's wrong with his face." said twilight.

"the power that the wishing rune gave me was too much and it might have disfigured me.. a little" i said.

"i don't know what you guys are talking about but i kinda want to see." said roseluck.

"yeah show them dude." said derek. i sighed and pulled my hood back revealing my flaming dark hair. it maintained it's shape mostly but it was all wavy and black. i pulled off the mask and showed my face. the scars were still glowing and i still had the fangs and mismatched eyes.

"woah.." said twilight and roseluck.

"your eyes are so cool." said roseluck.

"you have grown powerful." she said. "the runes along your body prove it." she said.

"what." i asked.

"well you see throughout history there were unicorns that became so powerful that it disfigured them and tried to reach to the surface. so they got these cracks which were the channels through which magic flows through the body." she said. i was kinda interested in this and kept listening. "when you use your magic the energy flows through your body and is visible through these cracks"

"that's sick." i said.

"yeah." she replied. "starswirl the bearded had these in his old age." twilight said. "you should feel lucky to be so powerful."

"aww dude that is sick." said thunder

"don't over do it. because if you strain your magic too much the energy will push through and become unstable... so just take it easy and do get mad." she said.

"why can't he get mad." asked roseluck.

"because it will strain the energy path's and they might leak out." she said.

"so it'll leak energy... what is that like plasma or a liquid or something." asked derek.

"no... it's basically lightning." she said. "and it will act like lightning and strike the nearest thing it can get to based on it's conductive property." she said. "so you three be care full... especially you." she said pointing at me."

"alright twilight." i said putting my hood back up and my mask on." we'll be careful." i said. with that we left the house and made our way through ponyville to the everfree forest. the entire walk to the everfree forest was quiet except for roseluck and thunder rush talking about... just random stuff. like his life outside of equestria. i have to admit he was good at telling lies and he has fit in quite well.

we finally got to the everfree forest and walked in. it got dark and we couldn't see too well. i looked around and couldn't see much. the tree's up ahead were too thick.

"hold on i can fix this." said derek. he concentrated and his horn glowed. there was a flash and a bright light shone from the top of his horn. "twilight taught me a few tricks." he said.

"what else do you know." i said.

"well i can pick things up and use them easily. and i can do this. i'm learning how to teleport right now. but it's hard and it just completely drains me." he said.

"keep practicing you'll get it." i said.

"how come you don't have a good understanding over magic." asked roseluck. derek froze for a second to think so i answered for him.

"where we come from magic was outlawed. they thought that the unicorns would use it to take control of the pegasus empire." she said.

"that's another reason why i left." said derek. "and now i can't go back because i'm a wanted colt." he said.

"wow." she said. "i've heard stories about that kind of stuff happening in the world. it makes me glad that i live in equestria where everything is nice." she said.

"yeah this place is pretty great." said derek. we continued to walk around for a while. until we eventually came across a cave. there was a pile of wolf bones outside of it. roseluck cringed and stepped behind derek. "i think we found our treasure." he said.

we slowly walked into the cave and it was dark. good thing derek had the light on top of his head. after a while. we saw a small light at the end of the tunnel. there must be something in this cave. roseluck stayed right behind derek.

"man keeping this spell up is killing me." he said.

"alright derek i got this." i said. he let his light go out and it was completely dark. i used my powers to part the shadows and light just filled the room from the already lit source of light down the hall. we continued our way through until we started to pass the torches making the light. we got to the end of the tunnel and there was a door looking thing.

we walked up and looked at it. there were pictures on it and it was completely cryptic.

"ah dude sweet." said derek. "how do we get this door open." he said.

"i think it's some kind of puzzle." said roseluck. "those pictures of the animals look like they move." she said. i looked there were these little rings on the door with pictures on them. it was like the lock to a lockbox. but instead of numbers there were pictures of animals.

"hey look and this." derek said pointing to some kind of picture on the wall. it was a picture of a wolf. i think i've figured it out. the wolf was in the middle and there was a small ring on each side of the wolf. the first ring pointed to the wolf and the wolf pointed to the second ring. i think it was a food chain.

i moved the pieces until i found a picture of a dragon. dragons are stronger than wolves so that must be it. then on the second ring i found a picture of a rabbit. that must be it. now how does this work. i looked down and saw an odd looking rock sticking out of the door. i pushed it and it went into the door. it made a clunking sound.

something stung me in the leg and as fast as i could i put up a shield. i watched as small darts started hitting up against the shield. once it stopped i lowered the shield and looked to my friends. that might have been the wrong order.

"sorry." i said.

"that was kinda scary." said roseluck.

"i think i've figured it out but i might have read it wrong." i said. i fixed it so that the rabbit pointed to the wolf and the wolf to the dragon. before i pressed the button i put a shield around us. again. i pushed the button and there were more clunking sounds and then a loud crash. i watched in awe as the door started sinking into the ground.

"wicked cool." said roseluck.

"alright." said thunder." this place is probably boobytrapped. so let's take it slowly." he said.

"that's a good idea. thunder stay behind me and roseluck stay behind thunder." i said. i walked in and looked around. it was some kind of catacomb. there were tombs everywhere. i slowly walked around and found some kind of altar. it had a gem on it.

"woah check this out." said derek. i turned away from the altar to see my friend over by an old bookcase looking at old beaten books. these are full of pictures of a bunch of spells in it." he said. "i can't read a word... but maybe twilight would like this." he said. he put it in his bag.

"come check this out." i said walking back over to the heart shaped gem on the altar. it was red in the middle but faded to a light pink on the edges. i walked over to it. i looked around for signs of any traps. but i don't think there were. i picked it up and there was a loud crash. i looked back to see the door closing up behind us. i ran over but it was too late it was shut.

"dammit." i said.

"alright guy's i... i think i've had enough." said roseluck. "i wanna go home." she said.

"we can't." said derek. "way to go crimson now were stuck in here." he said.

"not true... there must be a way out." i replied. "look." i said pointing to a passageway past the altar. "that could be a way out. besides bro i can teleport..." i said. that seemed to calm roseluck down. "if there is no other way out i can teleport us back to ponyville." i said. that calmed them down a bit knowing there was a failsafe. we walked over to the corridor.

we kept walking and there were a few spider webs everywhere. and then there were some really big thick ones. i didn't like were this was going. i used my shadows to cut away at the spiders webs. we eventually got into a clearing that was covered in giant egg looking things and huge spider webs.

" what's with all these damn spider webs." said derek.

"i think i know." said roseluck with fear in her eyes. i looked up and there was a huge spider hanging above us. i slowly made it's way down from it's web. we moved out of the way and it stared at us.

"roseluck." said derek. "i want you to get back." he said. she ran away and into the hallway we just came out of. soon i noticed several not as large spiders descend. the larger one made a few noises and the smaller ones ran after us.

derek used his magic to sheath his sword and we started slashing away. one spider jumped me but i pierced it's abdomen and it fell to the ground and curled up. derek got jumped but he slashed it open. he got a few guts on him.

the fighting continued until all the baby spiders were in pieces. the big mother spider got mad and lashed out a web. it wrapped around derek and he flung him against a wall. he yell in pain when he hit the wall. she was about to fling him again but i cut the web and he fell to the ground. i jumped over and started to attack the spider as derek used his magic to pick up his sword and free himself.

i roared and lashed out two tentacles from the shadows and cut off two of the spiders legs. it got angry and brought one leg up. it was pointed like a dagger. she smashed my back a few time with it but my armour kept me safe. honestly i had expected to find dragons not spiders but this is good too.

without noticing she used her web to wrap me up and i was covered in the stuff. she leaned over and bit me with her fangs. i yelled out in pain as it tore through my armour.

"get off him." said roseluck. she picked up a rock and threw it at the spider. the spider pulled it's teeth from me and turned it's attention to roseluck. shit. i used my shadows and tried to get free. roseluck just cowered away slowly as the spider approached her.

"don't you touch her." yelled derek as he jumped through the air and onto the spiders back. he ran up to she spiders head and shouted out a battle cry before piercing the skull of the spider with his sword. the spider started freaking out and smashing against walls. derek pulled the sword from it's head and he was flung off. the great spider fell to the ground and curled up like any other spider.

"oh my gosh." said roseluck. "thunder are you alright." she said running over to him. she held him and sat him up.

"yeah i'm fine." he said pulling off his helmet so he could breath

"you saved my life... thank you." she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. he blushed. it was cute. i had almost forgotten i was free. i was going to get up but i had a large pain in my stomach. i yelled out in pain and the others turned their attention to me.

"crimson buddy what's wrong." he said. it was hard to speak but i choked out a few words.

"pouch... green bottle... nngah, antipoison." i said.

"he's poisoned." said derek. he looked around and found my bag. he ran over and started rummaging through it. "green bottle. green bottle... here it is." he said. he ran over and pulled the cork. he brought it to my lips and tilted it up. i laid there quivering and drank the potion. he pulled away and watched over me. i writhed in pain for a few more seconds and suddenly the pain started to fade.

after a few minutes the antipoison had worked and the pain was gone. i looked down at the two gaping holes in my chest. that's not good. i summoned a few clouds of shadows to my hooves and u rubbed them over my wounds. i cringed at the pai at first, but then i started to feel soothing and the pain was gone. i removed my hands and looked down. the holes were gone and my armour was repairing itself

"you alright crimson." said thunder.

"yeah i'm alright... good thing i always keep that pouch prepared with stuff huh... you should do that too." i said.

"where do you get all these potions." he asked.

"i make them..."i said. "you should try it. it's just like cooking but... better." i said . i got up and dust myself off. i spent a little bit picking spider webbing off of me.

"i don't see a way out of this room." said roseluck. i looked around and saw a trail of spiders on the ground. they weren't the huge ugly ones we just fought they were small regular ones. i watched as they wade their way over to a large web on the wall. they didn't walk up the web just passed it.

i walked over and derek and roseluck followed. i used a shadows to tear a hole in the web and used it again to rip it apart. there was a passageway.

"here there's more." i said. we walked down the passageway and the spiderwebs soon began to clear. we were in another kind of catacomb again. there were large vases everywhere.

"what are these things." asked derek.

"i know what these are." said roseluck. "my dad used to tell me stories about ancient burial tombs like these. ponies brought their dead here and buried them with worldly items. these are the burial vases for those ponies." she gasped. "i bet they're full of treasure."

"i don't know." said derek. "that's a bit disrespectful to the dead." he said.

"c'mon derek we don't have much loot and besides we'll just loot one alright." i said.

"okay i guess." he said. i walked over to one and used a shadow to smash it open. a bunch of gold and jewelry poured out. "woah these things are full." he said. he used his magic to pile a few coins and jewels into his bag and i did the same. he picked up a nice sapphire and gold necklace and gave it to roseluck.

"aww you're sweet." she said and she kissed him again on the cheek. i continued looting until i heard a crack and a crash. we all looked over and saw one of the tombs popping open. it cracked and roseluck screamed. she backed up a bit and i readied my shadows and derek got his sword out.

i skinny and rotted hoof reached out of the coffin. it pulled up the rest of the body and revealed and rotted and zombie looking pony. it was a guy. his hair was old and mostly fallen out. his teeth were black and rotted. and he wreaked. he opened his eyes and they glowed bright red. he had on some kind of armour that looked like it was fused to his skin. he walked out and grabbed a rusty iron sword lying on the ground. he ran at us and slashed at me.

i used my shadows to block and the clash caused a few sparks. i pushed him back and slashed him across the chest. the slash caused some him to stumble back. there was a cloud of dust were i cut him and he charged again. he slashed at me and i dodged. derek went to attack and the dead pony blocked it.

i heard another crack behind me and a crash. i looked back and saw a tomb behind roseluck open up. derek had this guy. i rushed over and jumped in the way. soon another tomb cracked open and another. we were surrounded by dead pony warriors. rose luck screamed and left the room. she watched from safety as we were confronted.

they circled around us and we started blocking and slashing. it was kinda fun to fight these things. i blocked a slash from a zombie and another one hit his sword against my armour. i used formed my shadows into double blades and cut the head off of one of the zombies. it fell to the ground and turned to dust.

"thunder." i said to my friend behind me slashing away at the dead ponies. "go for the head." i yelled. he swung his sword and cut the head off of one of them and blocked another attack. the zombie fell to the ground and turned to dust. we started cutting the heads of of the dead ponies until there were none left.

we heard another crack and crash. we looked back at a large and well decorated coffin and watched as ic cracked oped. it broke and a large force propelled the pieces of stone into the air with incredible force. as they crashed to the ground and pony rose from the coffin. he was wearing robes with a hood and and a wooden mask. it looked like some kind of ancient mask or something. might be valuable.

he floated up and we saw that he was a unicorn. he started speaking in some kind of ancient language that i couldn't understand. his horn glowed red and a giant ball of fire flew from the horn. we lept out of the way and the fire hit the ground and exploded. he fired another and i deflected it with my shadows. he fired one at derek and a blue shield popped up around him that protected him from the fire.

i charged forward. and the mage looked at me. his horn glowed and i got ready to deflect another fireball. but this time there was no fire. i spike of rock jetted from the ground under me and hit me in the stomach. it wasn't sharp but it hurt. it sent me flying into a vase and the vase broke and i was lying in a pile of gold. the mage did the same to my friend and sent him into a nearby table.

derek yelled out in pain when he hit the table. there was an audible snap and he yelled again. roseluck covered her face and the mage started floating over to derek. he used his magic to pick up a bunch of old and rusted spears and swords off the ground and held them over my friend. i acted quickly and launched a volley of arrows from the shadows. several arrows flew at the mage and stuck him in the back. he dropped turned the weapons to me and they started flying towards me. i put up a shield and the rusted weapons shattered on impact.

i used my shadows to stretch out two claws and grabbed the wizard. i clutched him tightly and he shattered into dust. his robes and mask fell to the ground and landed in the pile of dust.

"that was close." i said. i walked over to the pile of dust and picked up the mask. it lightly glowed green and it whispered ancient words. this has to be worth something. i thought. i walked over to derek who was lying on the ground gritting his teeth.

"oh no he's hurt." said roseluck. "help him... use your shadows or something." she said rushing over.

"that only works for me." i said. "but i do have something that will help him." i said reaching into my bag and pulling out a health potion.

"quickly." she said.

"hey bro are you alright." i asked.

"not really i think he broke a few ribs... and i taste blood. whatever that is i hope it works." he said looking at the potion in my hand.

"of course it works." i said . "made it myself... now this is going to taste really bad but don't spit it up you need to drink it." i said. i popped the cork and put the bottle to his lips. he started drinking it and he cringed. i told him it tasted horrible. he finished half the bottle and i pulled it away from him. he didn't need too much. it would kill him. it only takes half. i put the cork back on and waited. he closed his eyes.

"is he alright." asked roseluck.

"yeah he'll be fine." i said. "his body just need to make him sleep so it can concentrate of the potion. he'll be awake in a minute." i said. i walked around and smashed the rest of the urns i took a few more bits and pieces of jewelry.

"maybe you shouldn't do that." said roseluck.

"to hell with these guys. they almost killed us." i said.

"oh why did i have to come." she said.

"if you want i can teleport you back home." i said closing my bags. the infinite storage enchantment was nice but that didn't stop them from weighing a ton. i'm going to throw out my back.

"no it's fine." she said. "i want to stay. you guys are crazy awesome and this is such a rush." she said. "i wish i could do this every day." she said.

"yeah i know welcome to my world." i said walking back over to derek. "just whatever you do don't go into the woods by yourself. make sure thunder rush is with you." i said.

"alright." she replied.

"and make sure i'm with him... because he can be a bit reckless." i said.

"your pretty reckless yourself." said derek waking up. he looked at me and smiled. i smiled back and laughed.

"at least i can fix my messes." i said. we both laughed. roseluck just sorta giggled with us. "feeling better." i said grabbing his hoof and helping him up.

"yeah much better." he said. "you might be right about these potion things... they're wicked convenient." he said.

"yeah i know... so help yourself to any remaining loot. there another passageway over there." i said. he walked over and started stuffing his bag.

"this infinite storage spell twilight gave me is awesome." he said. i smiled.

"my bags are the same." i said. "too bad it doesn't help with the weight. i said walking over with roseluck close behind.

"yeah i know." he said. when he was done looting we continued through to the next corridor. we walked through and there weren't any torches for light so derek used his light spell to clear the path. ground was a bit wet and the ceiling was dripping with water.

i took one step and felt the ground shift underneath my foot. it was a pressure plate. i heard a clunking sound and a wall of sharp looking spikes flew out from the side. i reacted quickly and used my shadows to make two claws and catch the spiked wall. i was able to keep it from moving forward and crushing us.

derek and roseluck jumped back and stared breathing heavily from the shock. i pushed the walk back as much as i could but the gears were strong. i lashed out a few more shadows to help and the rune scars over my body glowed brighter. i pushed as hard a as i could and i could hear the clanging of metal and the clashing of ears. there was a snap and a crash and the wall stopped moving. i put the shadows away and pushed the non spikey part of the wall.

it was broken and i could just slide it. i stepped on the pressure plate a few times and nothing happened. it was definitely broken.

"i think you broke it." said roseluck.

"that was close." said derek. i looked back to see that he had moved roseluck out of the way. i pushed the wall back and we continued our way forward.

"alright. i'll check the ground in front of us for more traps and stuff since i'm in front." i said. they agreed and we continued. i checked the ground constantly for traps. we made good progress until i saw something shine in dereks light. "woah... stop." i said. they both stopped.

"what is it." said roseluck.

"thunder shine your light over here." i said. he moved his head closed and i saw a thin line shine in the light. it was a trip wire. i looked closely until i could see it. whoever put these traps here didn't want people to notice them. this thing was thin as hell. i used my shadows to quickly cut it and it fell to the ground. that's the trick with trip wires. you have to cut them but any slight pressure will se them off.

"what was it." asked derek.

"it was a trip wire." i said. "and a really good one too." i said. i looked to the wall and saw the line thicken and run up the corridor. i followed it and the others followed me. soon it stopped and ran up to the ceiling. i looked up and saw some sort of clay. then it clicked. "check this out." i said signaling for derek. he came over and looked at it. his opened wide and he smiled.

"is that what i think it is." he said.

"yep... it's C4." i said. it was in it's own raw form and there was enough of it here to collapse a cave five times the size of this one.

"that's allot of C4." he said. "a bit excessive."

"what is this... C4 stuff." asked roseluck. i looked at the trap and saw that the trip wire was connected to some kind of mechanical gear or whatever.

"it's explosives... we used to use them where we come from." said derek.

"now what intrigues me." i said. "is that it can only be activated through electricity or lighting in this case. but here they just have some kind of mechanism but it's just connected to two blue gems." roseluck walked over. she looked at the gems. one was red the other blue.

"oh these are what we call spark gems. when they meet the send out a wave of electricity or a shockwave. this happens whenever they touch... i've seen these in the phillydalphia museum."

"interesting." i said. i grabbed the two gems and put each on a separate pouch of my saddlebag so they wouldn't accidentally go off in my bag. derek walked over and started working the C4 off the wall with his magic. he got it off and used his power to crush it into a brick.

"i'm keeping this." he said.

"alright." i said. and we walked on. "roseluck you know a lot about this stuff." i said.

"yeah my dad told me stories when i was young about great adventurers that scour the land seeking fame and fortune. i used to always want to be a wandering adventurer."

"sounds like a fun living." said thunder.

"yeah it does. my dad said lots of ponies used to be adventurers back when equestria started off and there was still a bunch of unclaimed land... a long time ago even before the two princesses were born." she said.

"is that why you came with us..." i asked. "to live your dream."

"yes at first." she said. "but i can see now that it's allot of hard work and seems painful."

"it's not that bad if you're tough and know how to handle yourself in these kinds of situations." said derek.

"yeah i guess. i used to study about caves like these and i think at the heart of them they buried dragons... and not the ones we have today. the dragons back then were ferocious and huge." she said. we continued walking and she told us about her childhood dream of being an adventurer.

there weren't any more traps and eventually we came into a large clearing. it was full of giant glowing crystals that lit up the cave. we walked forward and stared in awe. it was mostly rugged rocks and boulders but shifted into some kind of like large meeting area or something. there were wooden benches leading up to an altar. it looked like a church and the benches where pews.

we walked forward and there was a large clearing behind the altar. we walked past the pews and i noticed something on the altar. it was some kind of staff. i walked up and the others stayed behind me. they just looked around at the crystals. i walked up and looked at the staff.

it was gold with a large dragon spiralling up to the top with it's wings spread out. it had it's mouth open and there was a black gem under it. it was spiked and looked like fire coming from the dragons mouth. it was so cool. i reached for it and it started glowing.

"hey guys come check out this staff." i said. i picked it up and there was a loud rumbling. the ground shook and the clearing behind the altar started to raise and the ground cracked around the bulge raising behind the altar. i walked backwards and there was a low growl and then a fearsome roar. i stepped back and a skeletal claw burst from the ground.

derek and roseluck stared in horror. the claw gripped the earth and the bones of wings broke from the ground. the skeleton raised from the ground and there was a sort of dark smoke covering it. it revealed itself to be a giant skeletal dragon. it's eyes lit up with black fire and so did it's chest. i roared again

"what the fuck." said derek.

"it's a dragon." said roseluck.

"about time we had a decent fight." i said. i yelled and fired a volley of arrows at the dragon. the arrows pierced the dragons bones but he didn't feel pain. he roared and breathed some kind of black fire. our flame shields protected us but not well. i had to put up my own shield to protect us. i put a mobile shield around roseluck and she ran to the end of the room.

i spread my wings and flew into the air. i flew around the dragon and started slashing at it wish my shadows and shooting balls of darkness at it. derek ran over and started running around the dragon slashing at it. his sword cut pretty well into the dragon. i shouted and released a wave of shadows. they turned into curved blades and smacked against the dragon. they cut deep but not deep enough.

the dragon lashed its tail out and hit me back. i flew through the air and regained my balance. i flew back and used my shadows to make a sword for myself. i yelled out in a battle cry and started slashing the top of the dragon while derek took the legs. the drago lashed out it's tail again and it went right for derek.

he jumped and spun in the air. as the dragons tail whirled by he thrashed his sword and cut off the tip of the dragons tail. it roared and breathed black fire everywhere.

"there must be some kind of energy keeping it alive." shouted roseluck from the end of the room. "find the source of energy and destroy it." she said. i flew around looking and kept slashing as well. i couldn't find anything. i was too focused on looking for the source of energy that i didn't see what was happening.

i flew right in front of the dragons face without noticing and it breathed it's dark fire on me. it burned me through my armour and i yelled in pain. the force of the fire sent me flying into the wooden benches and sent my bag's flying off of me. they hit the ground and the stuff in the scattered across the ground. i flexed my wings and prepared to take off when i noticed something.

there was a faint light in the corner of my eye. i looked and saw the heart shaped gem i picked up at the beginning of dungeon. it was glowing a bright red.

"that's it crimson that gem is what's keeping him alive." yelled roseluck "destroy it." she yelled. without hesitation i swung my sword at the gem and it shattered. it stopped glowing and turned black. i looked over to the dragon. he stuck his head in the air and roared. the dark energy within him died out and he was a skeleton again. his bones fell to the ground and crashed on impact. i saw derek running from the mess.

he ran back over to us. he was smiling. he didn't look like he was hurt so he was probably fine. he ran over and stood next to me. roseluck ran over too.

"you magnificent bastard." he said. "you did it. you just killed a giant fucking zombie dragon... ain't that a story to tell the kids." he said catching his breath. i laughed.

"that was amazing you guys." roseluck said running over. "you guys are the greatest adventurers i've ever seen."

"we owe the victory to you roseluck." i said. "if you didn't know as much as you did about dungeon's we might still be fighting the dragon or worse." i said.

"thanks guys." she said blushing. i walked over to my bag and picked up all the stuff. i walked over to the staff i dropped on the ground and picked it up. i held it in one wing and used it to walk since the dragon burned me through my armour. i looked at the staff again.

"i like this staff... this is going to be my trophy." i said.

"so you're gonna keep it." derek said.

"yeah... and who knows it might even have magical properties." i said.

"what about that mask." said derek.

"i'm going to see if twilight knows about that."

"thanks for bringing me along guys it was fun." said roseluck.

"how do you know it's over." said derek.

"there can't possibly be more after that." she said. i laughed.

"i think there's an exit behind the altar." said derek. "the dragon knocked me into some kind of door when he wiped me with his tail."

"you alright." i asked him.

"yeah just knocked the wind out of me." he said. "how about you are you alright."

"pretty burnt up but i don't have any burn potions on me so i'll just have to deal." i said. "c'mon lets go." i said and we started walking. derek was right there was a pair of large metal doors on the end of the clearing. they had a picture of a dragon on them. they weren't locked but they were heavy. me and derek pushed them open and they lead to a large well lit tunnel. we walked through the tunnel and it took a bit. there were a lot of twists and turns. eventually we came to a dead end.

"damnit." i said.

"i guess they weren't done building." said derek.

"this can't possibly be a dead end." said roseluck behind us. i looked around and noticed a strange rock jetting out of the wall.

"and i don't think it is." i said. i pushed the strange rock and it sunk into the wall. there were a few crashes and clangs and soon enough the wall in front of us started sinking into the ground. i walked forward smiling and it led to another hallway. it looked familiar.

"hey look the door." said roseluck. i looked over and saw the puzzle door i solved when we first came here. it was pretty close.

"aww sweet that tunnel brought us to the other side of the door." said derek.

"talk about convenience." i said walked down the tunnel away from the door. roseluck and derek laughed. we walked through the tunnel and started talking about the crazy adventure we just had. eventually we cleared out to the everfree forest.

"that was the coolest thing i've ever done." said roseluck. "thanks for letting me tag along. even though i couldn't help fight your battles i think that was fun."

"your knowledge of these kinds of caves and legends was very useful." i said as we continued walking through the forest. "your intuition makes you a great part of the group... so i guess you're to thank as well." i said.

"wow you really mean that." she said.

"trust me when it comes to apologies and remarks like this he never jokes..." said derek.

"i am completely serious." i said. "you helped a lot... and i want to personally thank you." i said looking back at her and smiling. we eventually made it back to ponyville. it was still light out. we were probably gone for a few hours.

"it's still light out." said derek.

"well yeah we left at like 10 in the morning... we were probably only gone like a few hours." i said. we walked into town and a lot of the ponies in town looked over at us and smiled. they ran over to us and started asking question. i didn't i pulled the crowd away from derek and roseluck so they can say goodbye.

"so i guess i should head home now." said roseluck.

"i guess. i need to head over to twilight's with crimson. he probably wanted her to identify some of the stuff we got." said derek.

"if you want maybe tomorrow or something you can come over." she said. kicking her hoof and blushing. derek blushed too.

"i would love to. where do you live." he asked. "don't worry about writing it down. i have a good memory." derek said taking off his helmet. he was pretty sweaty. but you can't really blame him.

"i live at 23 oak street. it's the first apartment on the left." she said. "so umm. bye." she said. she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. her eyes closed and his shot straight open. she blushed and pulled away. she ran off past the crowd of ponies and derek just stood there.

i finally managed to get all the ponies to leave and i walked over to my friend. his face was flushed red and he just watched as roseluck ran off down the road. i laughed. he was lovestruck.

"way to go buddy." i said slapping him on the back. "you found yourself a mare." i said.

"shut up." he said jokingly and pushing me out of the way. i just laughed some more.

"c'mon lets get to twilight's." i said.

"alright lets go see what we got." he said. we both ran off towards twilight's house. when we got there we knocked on the door. we waited a few seconds and she swung open the door. "hey twi." said derek.

"ah back from your adventure already." she looked over to the staff i was holding. "woah where did you find that." said twilight.

"we found some kind of ancient dragon burial mound." i said. she looked around and stepped out of the and gestured us to enter. i walked in and placed down my bags.

"you guys must have came across one of the ancient dragon ritual palaces." said twilight.

"there were a lot of dead people for it to be a palace." i said.

"well along time ago ponies used to worship dragons as gods. a chosen unicorn was designated to be the dragon priest and held a special connection with the dragon they worshiped. the dragons would stay in their palace and rule over the ponies. and they believed that once the dragon had died. which didn't happen for a long time given the lifespan of a dragon. when a dragon died they believed that if they died they would be risen up to the afterlife with the dragon." said twilight. i interupted with a question.

"so these people worshiped dragons and killed themselves when the dragon died." i said.

"yes. and they would be buried with urns full of the gold that the dragon would sleep on. they believed they could bring it with them back to the dragon. but first the priest could cut the dragons heart out and place it in the front of the castle." she continued.

"that's pretty stupid." said derek. "why would they do that." he said. twilight hovered a book over to her and skipped through the pages.

"nopony really knows why. but dragon hearts when torn from the dragon crystalize and turn into a gem. some ponies believe they did this to preserve the dragon. once the dragons heart was crystallized and the dragon buried behind the altar. the ponies would seal themselves in tombs and await death."

"well they weren't sealed tight enough." i said

"oh no what did you guys do." said twilight. derek looked over to me.

"you tell her." he said. i sighed and told the story.

"well we got to the puzzle door and opened it up. we got to the first room and i saw this gem shaped like a heart so i grabbed it thinking it was valuable."

"and i found this book." derek said holding up the old and dusty book.

"yeah and derek found a book. so anyway after we got out of there we ran into a room full of giant spiders and we killed them all." i said. "after that we walked into burial room and maybe kinda broke the vases you talked about and looted them. then the ponies came back to life and attacked up." i said.

"wait they came back to life." said twilight.

"yes." i said.

"interesting." she said. she levitated a quill and scroll over and started jotting down notes. "continue." she said.

"alright. so after we killed all the regular dead ponies one on fancy looking dead unicorn rose from his coffin and attacked us. he shot fire from his horn but we killed him and i took his mask. i assume this is the. dragon priest guy you talked about" i said. i pulled the mask from my bag and showed it to her. her jaw dropped and she smiled.

"oh my gosh... this is one of the greatest archaeological finds ever." she said. "do you know how much this is worth." she said.

"i'd imagine a lot" i said.

"that is one of a kind...it's as much as you want it to be." she said. i didn't think this thing would be worth so much. i put it back and continued my story.

"so after that we walked through a boobytrapped hall and made it to the main room i guess. there were benches and altars there. so i found this staff on the altar and i picked it up. then the ground shook and a giant dragon rose from the ground and attacked us. he had a bunch of dark smoke in his chest and breathed black fire. which might i add was not protected against flame shield." i said.

"you guys are crazy." said twilight. "and of course it doesn't protect against flame shield because it's not fire. it's just pure energy." she said "but please continue." she said.

"alright so we fought the dragon for a while and stuff happened. basically in the end that gem i picked up was the dragons heart and it was keeping it alive. so i smashed it and the dragon died." i said. "the we left through a secret tunnel."

"well that is quite the story." said twilight. "and i would hope that you give this mask to a museum so it can be preserved... without breaking the economy." she said.

"don't worry i'm not going to drain equestria of all it's money with this." i said. "and what can you tell me about this staff." i asked.

"thats the staff of the dragon priest. even though they worshiped the dragons the dragon priest was always in control. that staff has the ability to control dragons and drain them of their power." she said. "it's only dangerous if you're a dragon."

"sweet." i said. "i'm keeping the staff. the mask can go to a museum"

"here twilight." said derek walking over to twi and handing her the old book. "thought this might interest you." he said.

"thanks... i'll probably spend the next week translating it." she said. "so what else did you guys get." she asked.

"thats pretty much it. the mask the staff. that book. and a shit ton of gold and jewels." i said. twilight laughed.

"it's been awhile since equestria has seen a decent pair of adventurers." she said. "there were those two guys however when you were at canterlot for the week after the uh... demon incident." she said.

"oh yeah and what happened to them." asked thunder.

"well they went into the everfree forest and i have yet to see them again." said twilight. me and derek laughed and twilight sorta giggled with us. "yeah they were real loudmouths.

"well i'm beat." i said.

"me too." said derek. "lets go home." he said.

"yeah you two should probably get your rest." said twilight. she used her magic to open the door and we walked out. we walked all the way back to my house. after 10 minutes of walking we made it to my front door and i pushed it open. i walked in and set my bags down. i saw dash in the living room holding dawn. scootaloo was there too.

"daddy's home." she said running over. "i cast my shadow armour off and the cloak and mask. so she could see me. when she looked at my face she stopped and her eyes went wide. oh that's right... my face. "daddy what happened to you." she said backing up.

"don't be scared of your father scootaloo." said rainbow from the other room. "remember we talked about it." she said.

"i'm sorry daddy.. i was just surprised that's all." she said.

"no problem baby." i said. i picked her up and hugged her. it hurt me to hug her because of the burns. i clenched my teeth and put her down.

"can you tell me about you big adventure." she asked. "where did yo get that cool looking staff." she asked.

"i'll tell you later baby... dadies tired." i said.

"alright." she said and she ran off. i walked into the kitchen and opened up the potions cabinet. i still had a few bottle of potions left that derek didn't mix into that bucket. and luckily i had a small bottle of burn serum. i opened it and drank. i could feel a rush of cold fly over my body. it felt nice. i picked up my bags and headed into the living room. i set my bags down on the coffee table and sat next to dash.

"oh no not another weapon." she said.

"this weapon is actually a valuable artifact. it can bend the will of dragons and steal their power." i said showing off.

"cool... anything else that could potentially destroy the family." she said rolling her eyes.

"calm down." i said putting a hoof on her shoulder. "it only works on dragons. and yes i do have something else." i said. i reached into the bag and pulled out the wooden mask.

"oh my gosh." she said in a low sarcastic voice. "a wooden mask... were set for life." she said. oh how right she was.

"actually we are set for life. this is the only dragon priest mask to surface in equestria and therefore it is one of a kind... and its worth lots of money." i said she perked up.

"oh my gosh... i take back the sarcasm. honey were rich." she said hugging me with one hoof and holding baby dawn in the other.

"hey you don't mind if i have the last soda do you." said derek from the kitchen.

"dude... i'm freaking rich... you can have the the fridge if you need it." i said. dash laughed and i did too. this was a good day. i'm rich now and my family can be happy. tomorrow i'll show this to the princess and were all set.

i picked up my baby from dash and gave her a big kiss on the forehead. i leaned in and kissed dash next. the kiss broke and she giggled. scootaloo ran over and i gave her a hug and a kiss to. hell i'd kiss derek if he were in the living room. it was like one of those touching family moments you see on T.V. or a movie.

things were getting better


	46. Chapter 46: All Hail The King

it was early the next day. me and derek were standing in the center of town surrounded by our friends. today we were going to go and take the mask to the princess. today is the day me and my friend become rich. we were ready to go and twilight used her magic to give derek wings. i spent a few hours training him to fly. i think he's got it.

"alright i wrote a letter to the princess and she's expecting you." said twilight.

"thanks twi." i said

"you do know something is going to go wrong." said dash. everypony nodded their heads in agreement.

"well of course... there's no way this is going to be as easy as it sounds." i said.

"i take it stuff doesn't normally go your way around here." said derek.

"nope. it almost always blows up in my face somehow."

"i'm not sure if you the unluckiest person in the world or the least." said rarity. i laughed. she had a point.

"i figured that i use up all my good luck in one swing and then something happens to make up for it." i said. everypony laughed.

"now derek remember. you're wings are made from gossamer and mourning dew... they are very delicate so don't fly too close to the sun and don't fly too fast." said twilight.

"we don't need a repeat of the last time." said rarity.

"no we don't." i said "so we're going to be careful and fly low so if you do fall it won't kill you." i said. "now lets fly." i spread my wings and flew up into the air. derek sighed and flew up after me. we waved goodbye and i checked to make sure the mask was safe. it was still in my pouch. with all the assets in order i took off towards canterlot and derek followed me.

"man this flying stuff is the shit." said derek. "you got it made dude. and you're magic too." he said.

"remember you're magic too." i said. "you can train and give yourself wings." i said.

"oh that's right." he said. i looked at dereks wings. i was hoping to get a laugh when twilight gave him buttershy wings but i guess she got better and he has thick dragonfly wings. they look cool.

we flew for a few hours and we were close to canterlot now just a few more minutes and we'll be there. i watched as derek floated by on his back and did a mid air twirl.

"calm down there bro." i said.

"relax... watch this." he said. he flew right into the air and whizzed around. something bad was going to happen. there was no way something bad couldn't happen. i was right. i watched as he spiralled out of control and fell. i rolled my eyes and picked up speed. he started yelling.

i flew under him and caught him. i looked and saw his wings were torn and mostly one. too bad twilight didn't mention flying fast.

"uhh... thanks." he said.

"don't worry about it. i knew you would lose you wings in some stupid way before we could return. that's why i also planned on us taking chariots back." i said. he blushed and i laughed. i carried him the rest of the way and we landed in front of the canterlot castle. i let derek go and he stood up and brushed himself off. we walked over to the guards outside of the gate.

"ah hello crimson blast and thunder rush." the guard said. "the princess is expecting you." his horn glowed and the gates opened up.

"thanks" i said and we walked through as the gate closed behind us. we walked forward and into the main hall. we walked up the stairs and through the doorway to the throne room. sure enough the princess was sitting on top of the throne with guards beside her. she smiled when she looked at me. she signalled the guards to leave and they did.

derek was busy looking around the castle. i forgot that he hasn't been here before. and it is quite the sight. eventually we met up with the princess and i had to put my hoof in front of him so he didn't walk past her. he focused his attention to the princess. we bowed and she bowed her head.

"well i've been hearing from twilight about your little adventure." she said. "quite impressive. you found a ancient dragon ritual palace and slayed the evil within it... and now you're here to reap the rewards."

"well when you put it that way. it sounds like a big deal." i said. she laughed.

"oh my child it is a big deal... you are the first in millions of years to open up a vault and reap it secrets and rewards... so how was it." she asked.

"there was a lot of fighting." said derek. "there were zombies and evil wizards, giant spiders and an undead dragon." he said.

"normally he exaggerates but that's actually it really." i said.

"sounds like quite the adventure... now twilight failed to tell me about the artifact that you two dug up... may i see it." she said.

"of course." i said. i opened the bag and pulled out the dragon mask. i saw as the princesses eyes widened and her expression changed... this thing MUST be a big deal.

"oh...oh my." she said. she used her magic to pull the mask from my grip and hold it up to her. "i know this mask." she said. that was a bit of a shock, but then again she's the freakin princess i'd believe anything she says.

"what do you mean by that." said derek.

"well it's a bit of a story." she said. she cleared her throat. "a long time ago when i was just a young princess the land was being ravaged by a great dragon of death. he was nothing but bone and darkness." she said.

"that's how the dragon was when we fought him." i said.

"we fought for so long... we fought until his bones were nothing but dust. but then a malicious pony wearing this mask and holding a staff revived the dragon then continued to destroy equestria. then one day two young mages made their way to equestria. one colt and one mare. they were madly in love but the dragon ravaging equestria seemed problematic to them."

"is this going anywhere." i said.

"it was their love that lured the dragon back to his resting place. and it was their love that trapped the dragon in it's tomb and struck down the evil wizard. and they were trapped in the dungeon. their love was so strong it lead them to make the ultimate sacrifice... i'll never forget them."

"that's one story... yet it hurts to know that there was no need for such loss." i said.

"why so is that." she said.

"well in the first room of the palace there was a heart shaped gem. that gem was the heart of the dragon and when destroyed cased the dragons spirit from this world. the mage however was an easy kill. he fell with a bit of effort." i said.

the princess laughed at the irony. i just kept my head down. she looked at me and i looked at her. she squinted.

"power has changed you crimson." she said.

"yes... it has." i said "now i'm disfigured." i said.

"no you're not." she said. "all these changes are but symbols to your power."

"what do you mean." i asked.

"the differentiated pupils presents the ability to see people in different ways. the longer hair is uncuttable and is measured only by your kindness. the sharp teeth show for you viggor and effort in battle. and the scars... these scars are the biggest sign of them all."

"i know twilight told me." i said.

"did she tell you that you can read them." she said smiling.

"uhm... no she didn't". what did she mean by read them.

"use your shadows." said the princess "i wish to see them glow." i didn't argue. i gathered the surrounding shadows and turned into my darker self. they lit up bright and glowed black. they did look quite odd.

"so you can read them." i asked.

"not off the top of my head but i know what they are." she said.

"what are they." asked derek.

"each one is a virtue that you have learned or acquired in your life... every time you learn something new or life changing a new one will emerge... it will also cause the others to change. and i see you've learned the greatest one of all. love." she said pointing to my chest. i looked down. i didn't really take the time to look at them but this one was very interesting.

it was right in the middle of my chest. it was a heart. it wasn't a solid heart. it was more abstract but resembled the shape. from there the others jetted out in perfect symmetry all over my body. even my wings had thin streaks of black light.

"the last colt to ever have enough power that it warped hi body was..."

"starswirl the bearded." i said interrupting. the princess smiled.

"yes... he had the scars the hair the teeth and the eyes... it almost drove him crazy... but there was one other thing he had that you don't" she said.

"what." i asked quite eager to know.

"his magic escaped him and formed a halo of light around his head." said the princess.

"thats way cool." said derek.

"i suppose. people thought he was a messenger from the afterlife. his halo is read to be an exaggeration but it is quite true. the halo represented his undying love for everypony. he was the only colt i knew that would risk his life and more for the life of his enemies. he never killed, never fought, and never hated."

"he sounds like a great pony." i said.

"he was indeed... i will never forget him as well." she said looking back into the mask. "now i'm sure you two are bored with my story." she said. we both looked back up.

"so princess." asked derek. "how much do you think the mask is worth."

"normally a museum would buy it for 20 million bits." she said. my heart stopped and dereks jaw dropped. "but i would like this for myself and i'm willing yo offer you 50 million bit's to share. i'd say that my heart stopped but it already has. so instead of pumping blood it just started sucking it up.

"fa, fa fa fa fifty m-m-m-million." said derek. he fell backwards. the princess laughed. she looked over to me.

"does that seem fair." said the princess. i didn't respond i just stood there awestruck. "crimson?"

"sorry i'm just waiting for my heart to start pumping blood again." i said putting my hoof over my heart. she laughed. "i think that's fair." i said.

"wait how are we supposed to carry 50 million bits back to ponyville. " said derek getting back up.

"i've have two chest's that i can enchant with infinite storage and feather weight spells." she said. "if you two will wait here i'll go get your rewards. she flapped her wings and flew off the throne. she flew down to the ground and walked through another door. me and derek looked at each other and laughed. he jumped at me and i jumped at him and we hugged.

"dude were fucking rich." he said.

"oh thank god... something finally went my way." i said. we sorta danced around and celebrated for a while until we got bored and we just sat down. "i can't wait to see the look on everyponies face." i said.

"first thing... i'm going to buy the biggest house in ponyville." said derek.

"already taken." i said. "but i think i might clear some of the forest around my house and use the lumber to build on and get a nice big yard to boot."

"i'm going to go and see roseluck and i think we might go out." i said.

"you really like her don't you." i said looking over at derek.

"yeah she's really awesome. i like her." he said. "i'm going to ask her out and take her on the most expensive dinner i can find and order her the most expensive meal there." he said

"i'm going to... well i don't know... i've never had anywhere close to this much money." i said. we both laughed. "you know what i'm going to have fluttershy babysit the kids tonight and i'm taking dash on a date too were going with you guys." i said.

"sounds like a plan man... sounds like a plan." he said.

"speaking of man... who the fuck need earth." i said. "i've already lost everything and they'd probably hunt me down and do experiments on me anyway if i return." i said.

"yeah jumping through that portal already made me an enemy of the country. they would probably just hunt me down and kill me."

"what about your family dude." i said. "they were in hawaii they didn't get blown up." i said. his expression changed. uh oh.

"thats what i thought... but i guess they decided to wait a week for me to get off duty and they would fly out with me. it wasn't until 9 months later that i learned that they never left for hawaii." he said

"i'm sorry dude." i said putting a hoof on his houlder.

"don't worry about it." he said. this is supposed to be a happy moment and i'm starting a new life." he said.

"alright derek." i said.

"hey... it's thunder rush." he said. we both laughed and i looked over to the princess walking back in with two guards levitating two large chests with them. they placed them down and we walked over.

"here you are my favorite adventures." she said. "your deserving reward." we opened up the chest's and stared at the shining bit's in the chest. i pushed the chest and i moved with almost no effort. i picked it up and it was light as a feather. usefull i thought.

"thank you princess." we both said bowing our heads. she smiled and bowed her head too.

"no thank you... i've been longing to see that mask for almost one million years."

"holly crap..." said derek. the guards don't seem to like that. "how old are you."

"uh thunder maybe you shouldnt-" the princess cut me off.

" no it's fine everypony settle down..." she said. she sighed and smiled." i've been asked this question many times. normally alicorns are a very special breed of pony. most closely related to ancient deities... we live for a long time. i'm well over 2 million years old." she said.

dereks jaw dropped and i was having trouble keeping my own from hitting the floor. she smiled and giggle.

"that's definitely uh... something princess." i said.

"i 've been told."

"is that why you're so smart." said derek. "because you've seen it all." he said.

"exactly that. i have seen it all. but it's not all glamour boys... there are very few ponies that are alicorns therefore they don't live as long as me." i interrupted.

"and you've had to stand by and watch as your friends and loved ones grew old and died while you stayed young." i said.

"yes..." she said. there was silence for a moment and then she spoke up. "well you two have to get back home.. you can borrow one of the chariots." she said. we walked out with her and we used our magic to carry the chests. we got outside to the courtyard and the princess whistled.

out from the side of the castle flew a chariot. i flew over and landed next to us. we put the chest's in and smiled. we smiled at the princess and waved goodbye and the chariot took off. the entire journey home me and derek talked about what we would do with the money. before we knew it we were back home.

the chariot landed and we opened the back. i looked down and saw all of my friends. i smiled and grabbed the chest. i walked off and smiled. dash walked over and hugged me.

"so how much money did you get." she said.

"yeah what was that fancy mask worth." said applejack.

"first of all it wasn't a fancy mask. it was an old dried up piece of wood. and second of all i'd assume the pay was great."

"here i'll answer that with a math question." i said. "what's five times five." i said.

"well that's easy it's twenty five" said twilight. "i don't think the mask was only worth 25 bits." she said.

"math ain't over yet twilight." i said. i held rainbow close to me and i held her hand. "now what's 25 time a million." i said smiling. everyponies jaw dropped.

"tttt-twenty five MILLION bits." said twilight with her bottom jaw basically buried in the ground.

"oh my gosh." dash said jumping up and down. she hugged me and started laughing. i hugged her back and laughed with her.

"well i'll be a damned." said applejack. "you two freaks actually made a fortune with that dumb cave run you did yesterday."

"oh my." said fluttershy.

"twenty five million bits." said pinkie jumping around. "thats like a million bajillion bits... you guys are rich." she said. she gasped when she suddenly realized that we should have a party. "we should have a party."...see.

"actually i might have plans today." said derek.

"me too." i said. i swept dash off of her feet and spun her around. "so my love..." i said in a cheesy voice. she giggled. "would you like to come with me on a romantic date with my friend here to the most expensive... most exquisite...most luxurious restaurant in ponyville." i said dancing her around.

"what are you talking about." said twilight. "this is ponyville not canterlot... the best we have is that fancy foreign ice cream store." she said... that was a bit of i buzz kill. but i shan't let it ruin my good mood.

"oh." i said. i looked back at dash and smiled "you wanna go get some fancy ice cream instead." i said. she laughed. the other giggled a bit too.

"so i take it thunder rush has a date too." she said as i put her down.

"not yet but i'd like to think that the mare of his dreams would say yes."

"i wouldn't call her the mare of my dreams." he said rubbing his head and blushing.

"i would." i said. "infact i just did." he blushed again. i walked over to him. "c'mon lets go meet roseluck and you can ask her out." i said pushing him towards my old apartment were roseluck was.

"alright i guess." he said.

"are we still good for ice cream." said dash giggling.

"yes baby." i said still pushing my friend "i want you and put on the fanciest ice cream eating dress you have." she giggled again. i used my shadows to pick up our chest's and bring them with us.

"i don't have any of those dresses." she said giggling.

"perfect." i said. she giggled some more. "you're not the dress type anyway." i said and me and derek disappeared behind a corner. i used my hearing to listen in beyond the corner.

"you really got yourself a hell of a colt." said applejack.

"you you're one lucky mare." said fluttershy.

" thanks girls." said dash.

"what i don't understand is how he can be so quick witted like that... i knew he had a silver tongue but that's a bit ridiculous." said twilight. well thanks twi. i thought.

"i love it when he makes me laugh... he doesn't even tell jokes he's just a very joyful pony to be around and his witty humor just tops it off." said dash. as much as i would love to listen to the girls drool over me behind my back i needed to get derek set up with roseluck.

we eventually made it to roselucks house. when all the neighbors saw me they waved. i kinda missed this neighborhood. i pushed him up to the doorway to roses house and he knocked. i stepped back and watched. the door swung open and roseluck was in the doorway. she smiled.

"hey guys." she said. "how much did you get for that mask." she said.

" 25 million each." i said. her jaw dropped

"holy shit guys that's ridiculous... i hope it doesn't all go to your head." she said. "so do you guys need anything."

"well uhm roseluck..." said derek. "i was wondering since you helped us and we never would... have... uhm." he looked back to me and frowned. "do you have to watch me." he said.

"yes... now get on with it." i said. "you've already ruined the surprise."

"well you saying that doesn't help."

"neither does arguing with me thunder now get on with it." i said. he sighed and rolled his eyes. roseluck was standing there trying her best not to laugh.

"so roseluck. i feel like you should get some kind of reward an uh... well... do you uh... want to maybe... go out tonight and get ice cream." he said. she just smiled.

"dude that was painful." i said.

"shut up." he said.

"well... i do like ice cream... and you are pretty cute." she said walking around him and flicking his nose with her tail. he froze up and blushed. the tailwhip always works... always. "so sure... i'll go on a date with you." she said.

"well i uh never said...uhm...i never said date."

"so it's not a date." she said smiling. the chick was good. derek's face was redder than the sun.

"well it is." he said. "but i never said date" she laughed and stood back in the doorway.

"this is actually causing me physical pain..." i said. she laughed again.

"you two are crazy... i'd love to go." she said.

"alright." he said "but crimson and his wife are coming with us." he said.

"thats fine." she said. "it's not awkward since there's no third wheel"

"makes sense." i said "you two head over and i'll grab my date and i will see you there." i used my shadows to pick up the chests. i spread my wings and rocketed into the air i flew over ponyville and dash and the others were still there. they didn't even leave. i flew down and landed.

"ah there you are baby," said dash. "we were just talking about you."

"yeah i know, i heard, ready to go."

"yep... wait, you listened in on our conversation." she said.

"yeah... you guys said allot of nice stuff about me... thanks." i said.

"oh you only heard the nice stuff." said twilight. i looked over to her questionably.

"was i maybe not supposed to hear any other things." i said. dash jumped in front of me and started pushing me back. i let her push me back.

"alright crimson lets go." she said. i turned around and walked with her. i smiled and we took off into the sky. we flew by ponyville and came across the ice cream store. i looked down and saw derek and roseluck walking forward and laughing. i taped dash and we both dived down. we landed next to them. rainbow and rose saw each other and their faces lit up.

"oh my gosh... rainbow dash, i didn't know you were married to crimson." said roseluck. dash moved aside and stood next to rose.

"i didn't know you were going out with thunder rush." said dash.

"well we just started dating i guess... i met him yesterday and he brought me through the dungeon with them." she said.

"i know twilight told me... so you finally got to be an adventurer." said dash.

"yeah i guess so... i'd probably have gotten yourself killed... oh who am i kidding i would have died in a second if these guys weren't there. said rose

"i didn't know you guys were friends." i said.

"when i first moved into ponyville from cloudsdale roseluck here was my first friend... we haven't been seeing each other lately though." said dash.

"i guess that's going to change." said rose. we eventually got to the ice cream store and we walked inside. "uh crimson... i don't think ice cream costs this much." rose said pointing to the chest's floating beside me.

"you never know." i said. dash and rose giggled.

"so roseluck." said derek. "what will it be... and don't worry about the cost... i can probably afford it." roseluck giggled.

"hmmm lets see." she said. "i'll have a double vanilla swirl with shredded chocolate."

"oh a girl of fine taste." i said. dash giggled. "and what will it be for you." i said to dash.

"hmh. i'll have what she's having." said dash.

"alright then" i said walking up to the counter. " i'll have two double vanilla swirl with shredded chocolate, a double chocolate. and one scoop of strawberry." i said.

"damn." said derek. "you still remember my favorite ice cream." said derek

"well of course... you were the only one who would bitch about it in the core."i said smiling. he blushed from embarrassment and his eyes shrunk and darted around the room. roseluck laughed quietly into her hoof.

the clerk made us our ice cream and i gave everypony their ice creams. we sat down at a table and at our food.

"what a romantic date." i said. "the dirty tables, bright lighting, and rustic people." i said pointing to a few sloppy ponies eating on the other side of the room and making a lot of noise and mess. "and not to mention the five star catering and professionally cooked food... exquisite." i said. everypony laughed and dash shoved me. "what."

"do you have to be so critical... it was your idea to come here." she said.

"i was mislead to believe this was a fancy ice cream store." i said "besides i don't think it was critical any more than it was comical." i said punctuating the end of my sentence by taking a lick from my ice cream.

"you know i always saw you as some kind of fictional hero from a story." said roseluck. "the kind that live by themselves in the woods and only come out to fight evil and save ponyville."

"well technically i do live in the woods... i... however, am not alone as you can see by my lovely wife here. and i help where i can."

"see that's what i find interesting about you... you're a local hero and you just kinda brush that title off like dust... how do you do that." she said.

"i ask myself the same thing all the time." said dash. "but he just does it." she said.

"well as much as i'd like to sit here and here you compliment me roseluck i do believe you came here with a date." i said pointing to my friend who already devoured his chocolate ice cream.

"and you two."said roseluck. "your quite the fighter. and i like that. you're a warrior but you not some kind of crazy hero that flies around everywhere saving people."

"yeah i'm pretty awesome." said derek reclining back. "did i ever tell you about the time i killed crimson here." he said.

"what." she said laughing. "you did not he's fine." she said.

"no it's true." said dash. "he pulled a prank on him but he accidentally mixed a shit ton of random potions together and put it leaning against a cabinet door. when crimson opened the cabinet he was so shocked that he swallowed the mix and died."

"you...you're kidding me." she said.

"nope. i was really dead." i said eating the rest of my ice cream. she just stared at me awestruck. "well i got better." i said. she laughed.

"oh celestia you guys are ridiculous." said roseluck. "how did you get better." she said putting air quotes around better.

"i walked all the way to the gates of tartarus as a ghost and then from there i journeyed to deaths castle over the plains of purgatory. when i got to death's castle i traded the soul of a demon that possessed our child for my own soul."

"wait a minute... what demon." said dash looking at me.

"oh that's right... you don't... uh... you don't know about that." i said.

"you better start explaining." she said crossing her arms.

"well apparently when you were 'impregnated' with out child a demon child was forming with our baby as well... problems ensued and our child had a demon bonded to her like me."

"is that why you didn't smile when anypony said that dawn was going to grow up to be just like you." she said.

"uhm...yeah that's a big part."

"why didn't you tell me." she said.

"because i didn't want to scare you. and don't worry the demon is gone and dawn is safe and i'm alive, and now we're rich... be happy. i said hugging her head. she smiled and laughed.

"alright." she said. "i guess everything worked out in the end." she said.

"i still can't believe we're rich." said derek.

" i still can't believe how easy that was... i was honestly expecting something to go horribly wrong." i said.

"well i did almost fall to my death." said derek.

"yeah but i anticipated that... there was no real threat." i said.

"doed stuff like this happen often with you and crimson." roseluck said to dash.

"are you kidding. it's like excitement is magnetically attracted to him... it never stops." she said.

"i guess that's why i'm so...wait for it... attractive." i said "huh huh." dash and roseluck laughed at how bad that joke was and derek just smiled.

"dude that hurt..." he said.

"sorry i had to." i said also laughing at my own bad joke. we sat there and talked some more and eventually everypony was done with their ice cream.

"alright thunder i guess i'll see you tomorrow." said roseluck as she turned to walk away.

"yeah definitely." thunder said. i gave him his money and he used his magic to levitate the chest next to him. we walked together back to my house. we opened the door and i was bombarded by fillies. it was scootaloo and her friends.

"dad is it true... are we rich." said scoots.

"we sure are." i said.

"how rich are you." asked applebloom.

"in this chest is 25 million bits." i said.

"woah no way... that's more money than silver spoons or diamond tiara's dads makes together." said sweetie belle

"woah." said applebloom and scootaloo.

"did you three wait here just to pounce on me when i got home." i said.

"yeah... were you surprised." said scootaloo.

"well it's not one of the most shocking things that's happened when i've opened this door but yes i suppose i was." i said. the three fillies smiled. "now why don't you two run home... it's getting late." i said.

"bye scootaloo." said applebloom and sweetie belle. they ran off down the road and scootaloo ran off to her room. i walked in and saw fluttershy float out of dawns room and close the door.

"hey fluttershy." i said.

"hi crimson."

"thank you for taking care of the kids while we were gone..." i said.

"oh no problem... i love children." she said.

"where they much trouble." i asked setting down the chest.

"oh not at all. dawn started crying but she settled down quickly, and scootaloo and her friends were quieter than usual." she said.

"thank you fluttershy." i said. she floated over to the door.

"no problem crimson... bye guys." she said and she left. i sat down on the couch. i started laughing my ass of.

"what's so funny." said dash catching my laughter and giggling

"where rich baby... were freaking god damn filthy stinking rich." i said.

" so what are you going to do first with your new found wealth." said dash.

" i don't know. i still have that pouch full of loot as well. i can add it to the chest." i said. i walked over to my bags and picked them up. they were heavy with loot. i used my shadows to pick out all the gold and jewelry. i opened the chest and poured the money in it. i watched as the already standing gold sank down to make room for my loot.i used my magic to pick out all the jewelry and put it on the coffee table.

"what are you going to do with all this." she said. i searched for any left over pieces of jewelry while dash and derek were busy looking at the jewelry. i picked up something out of the gold. it was a crown... it was gold and gem encrusted. i'm keeping this. i put it on and it made a nice fit. i turned around.

"all hail the king." i said. dash and derek looked over and almost burst out laughing. "and as king i require a queen." i said in a deep voice and sticking out my chest. i walked over to dash.

"well hello my king." she said trying not to laugh.

"my god..." i said in the deep voice and sticking my chest out further. "you surely must be the most beautiful mare of all the land." i said " you will make and exemplary queen. now let us make haste to the castle." i said.

"i think were already in the castle and i'm already married to you." she said laughing.

"my god... she is as quick as a whip and smarter than the court wizard." i said. "you are perfect. i must have you." i said picking her up and gently biting her neck. she laughed.

"well if you must my king." she said as i held her.

"now for you first royal duty you must come with me. and polish the royal scepter." i said. she burst out laughing.

"what.." she said.

"THE KING HAS SPOKEN." i said in a booming voice that shook the house.

"calm down you highness before you have a royal heart attack." said derek.

"my heart would dare not attack me... i would have it's head for such treason." dash and derek started laughing and i couldn't keep it up anymore i started laughing too.

"well my king." said dash

"yes my queen." i said.

"i'm not sure about the royal scepter but you need to shower... you and the village fool over here." she said and we both laughed.

"hey i heard that." said derek. i lifted up my arm and took a whiff.

"oh my lord that is a foul stench indeed... you are right, too the washroom." i said.

"not if i'm there first." said derek racing up the stairs. i raced after him.

"how dare you go before the king... i'll have your head for this treason." i yelled and i ran after him. but her got there first and closed the door. too bad the downstairs bathroom doesn't have a shower. i walked back downstairs and sat next to dash.

"well my king it seems like you're royal subjects have left you." said dash.

"aye...they have." i said. she climbed on top of me and grabbed my shoulders.

"but you're queen still loves you." she said.

"good i'd have her head if she didn't" i said. she laughed and kissed me on the lips. i grabbed her and held her tight. she pressed her lips against me and moaned. i smiled and he moved away. i laughed and she did too. " you just saved your head." i said.

i heard a door swing open and looked past dash and saw scootaloo walk out of her room.

"i'm trying to sleep why are you guys yelling." she said. dash hopped off of me and sat down.

"your father thinks himself a king." said dash

"but i am a king." i said "i am a king and this is my palace, and you are my queen." i said to dash. "and you are my daughter now go to bed the king has spoken." i said.

"but." said scootaloo.

"THE KING HAS SPOKEN." i said. dash laughed and scootaloo smiled.

"alright dad... goodnight." she said walking back into her bedroom and closing the door. i looked back to dash and smiled.

"mayhaps we should move to a more... private chamber." i said

"that would be nice." said dash. i picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. i placed her on the bed and laid down next to her. she smiled at me and i smile back. i could hear the bathroom door open.

"alright you're royal pain..." said derek. "bathroom's open" and he walked downstairs to the living room "i don't know about you but i'm tired... night.". i rolled my eyes and looked back to dash.

"the king is going to go and shower..." i said. "i will return when the clock strikes...uh...the point ten minutes from now." i said. dash giggled and i got off of her.

i walked into the bathroom and started the shower. i washed up and looked at myself in the mirror. when my scar...uh marks weren't glowing they looked like i was in some kind of horrible accident... we i guess i did die.

i walked out and joined dash in bed. she was wearing my crown on her head. she smiled and i did too.

"what is the meaning for this treason." i said. she put her hoof to my mouth.

"shhh... the queen is speaking." she said. i smiled. "your queen demands satisfaction." she said. i liked it when dash talked dirty like that...it was arousing.

"as you wish...m'lady" i said i rolled on top of her and hugged her tight. i was already getting hard. i slowly rubbed my crotch against her pussy and teased her with it. she bit her lip and moaned. soon enough i was rock solid. i guided my cock down and slowly pushed it from in between her lower lips. she blushed and bit her lip again.

i was all the way in and i leaned in and kissed her. i started to buck my hips slowly and she moaned into my mouth. i picked up the pace and the bed started to rock and bang against the wall. i used my shadows to hold it down so that it wouldn't rock.

i picked up the pace and bucked my hips even faster. dash pulled her head to the side and i started gently biting and kissing her neck. she had her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. i kept a steady pace for five minutes and i felt pressure build up. i bucked faster and faster.

"oh yess... don't stop." said dash. "don't you dare stop." i kept that steady pace so i wouldn't over excite myself and finish early. i kept that pace for a few minutes and she moaned loudly... she was done. i picked up the pace and finished right after her.i fell on top of her and smiled.

"oh gah...fuck." i heard behind me. my eyes widened and me and dash looked behind us. dash gasped when she saw derek standing there shielding his eyes. "i just needed to piss... close your door dude." he said running off. i used my shadows to close the door quickly. i looked at dash.

"you don't think there's any way you could wipe his memory do you." she said.

"or i could just kill him... nopony would suspect it..." i said . i looked off into the distance and rubbed my chin. "it would be the perfect crime." i said. dash smiled and laughed. "don't worry about it i once caught him and his wife doing it." i said.

"what did you do." she asked.

"well first i went blind." i said. she chuckled a bit. "and then i repressed it... well as much as i could... mostly the uh...the genital area, everything else is clear." i said.

"he'll probably do the same." she said. "but that was awkward." she said hugging me.

"yeah it was." i said laughing. i laid on top of her and my penis slowly slid out of her vagina and sheathed itself. a waterfall of semen flowed out onto the covers. i used my shadows to clean up the mess and i pulled the covers over us. i held dash tight and closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.


	47. Chapter 47: Almost Easy

i woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. i got up and walked downstairs. i got there in time for derek to open the door. it was roseluck. i wonder what she wanted.

"oh thank goodness you two are here." she said. "i need you're help."

"what's wrong." asked derek.

"my two idiot friends silver wind and lily thought they could get rich like you so they ran off into the everfree forest with almost no equipment. just some water food and a dagger... can you please help i haven't seen them since last night and i don't want them to get hurt." she said.

"up for another adventure crimson." said derek.

"you know it." i said.

"what's going on down here." said dash walking down the steps and standing next to me. i was gathering my shadows and gear while derek did the same.

"two ponies got lost in the woods last night and we're going to go find them." i said. dash sighed and rolled her eyes

"alright but you two be careful." she said. i nodded and gave her one more kiss before the shadows weaved and hood over my face. me and derek both grabbed our gear and headed out.

"i'm coming with you two." said roseluck running after us "i know where they went to get to the forest. follow me." she ran ahead of us and we followed. she lead us up the main road and through town. eventually we got to the south road leading out of ponyville. "it's over this way." she said running across the left side. we followed her and eventually we got to an opening in the forest.

we walked in and slowly made our venture. we walked forward down and obvious path. they've been gone all night so i suspect they would be deep into the woods. soon the brush started to thicken and it got dark. derek used his light and lit the way.

we walked for what seemed like hours until i noticed something on the ground. they were hoofprints. they grew deeper as the ground below us turned softer.

"look." i said pointing to the hoofprints. "that must be them." we followed the hoofprints. they tracked on down the path for a while but they grew fainter as the dirt below us hardened. i assumed that they stayed on the track. eventually the trail just stopped at a dead end.

"where did they go." said roseluck. "there aren't any other paths." i looked around and saw that there was a steep drop next to us. most of the shrubs and bushes looked trampled and the leaves torn and crushed.

"they went that way." i said pointing to the broken shrubs. i walked over and slowly made my way down. the ground looked like it was patted down and not stepped on "see how the ferns are patted down in large clusters." i said pointing out the disturbed flora. "they must have fallen down this hill."

we slowly made our way down to the bottom we walked through a few more shrubs and there was another path. though it changed from left to right. i had to decide. i looked at the ground for any clues and there was a little red stain on the dirt. a trickle of blood. i looked left and there was nothing. i looked right and there was another stain of blood in that direction.

"there's a blood trail heading this way." i said walking down the right side of the path.

"oh i hope they didn't hurt themselves too bad." said roseluck.

"don't worry i'm sure they're fine." said derek. i followed the blood trail and the small stains started to grow larger. that wasn't good. one of them was hurt and it was only getting worse. we picked up the pace and eventually we heard a soft crying. it was a girls voice.

"that's lilly." said roseluck. i quickly ran down the path and the crying grew louder. it felt like it was right in front of us. i turned a corner on the path and i saw a pink mare with a yellow mane. she was crying over the body of a grey colt with blue hair. he was covered in blood. he was dead.

"oh my god." said derek.

"no lily... what did you two do." said roseluck rushing over and hugging her friend her friend hugged back and kept crying.

"i...i tried to help but...but he was just so...so hurt and there was...blood everywhere...i... want to go home." she said. me and derek walked over to the crying mare. i picked up the hoof of the dead colt and checked his pulse... i was wrong he was just barely alive. this wasn't good. i looked at him and his eyes darted over to me.

"what happened." i said.

"i... i don't know we were just walking when something flew out of nowhere and attacked him... please he's hurt help him."

"theres nothing we can do." said derek. i just looked down at the pony.

"no... no no there must be something." she said. she crawled over to me and grabbed onto my leg with her blood stained hooves. "please you're the hero... you can do anything...please ." she said begging and crying at the same time. well of course i had to help... but there was only one way i can, and i'm not going to like it.

i walked forward and looked down at the hurt colt. he had large gashes on his side. they were large claw streaks. but what intrigued me was a large thick single gash across his chest. whatever attacked them had claws and a sword. i closed my eyes.

"crimson i thought you couldn't heal others." said derek.

"just watch." i said. i opened my eyes and i glowed black all over. i saw that this was going to take allot of power and concentration. i watched and noticed the symbols on my body start to glow really bright and spark. a cloud of darkness covered over me and several shadows shot out and grabbed the injured stallion.

they held on tight and a thick black smog traveled up from them to me. i watched as the stallions wounds started to close and the blood flow back into his body. i yelled in pain when i felt my muscles and tissue being ripped apart. i grit my teeth and concentrated.

"what's he doing." said derek.

"he's transferring the damage... i've heard about this." said roseluck covering her face as the spell had started to create a strong wind. i yelled in pain again and i could feel the energy welling up in me. it released and a bolt of lightning shot from me and hit a tree. "we need to go." she said running to the shrub with lily. derek followed. i yelled again and small bolts of energy started launching off of me and hitting the ground. some bolts were much bigger and fired out into a tree and tore it down.

i couldn't stand anymore and i fell to my knees. i continued to grit my teeth and yell in pain as my armour broke away and showed off the glowing symbols over my body. i concentrated harder and the energy being released from my body needed a new way to escape rather than lightning. the ground around us started to shake and quake. i watched as my own blood started pouring out onto the ground below me.

i howled in pain as i felt a great pressure on my left arm. it grew tighter and soon it snapped. i screamed in pain and fell to the ground. i was in so much pain right now. i felt another pressure fill up in my wings and they snapped too. i yelled again in pain. i closed my eyes and i had to shout just to concentrate. i continued to shout and try to keep awake. but i was ready to collapse. i could feel the pain start to fade and the lightning shooting from my body dwindled down to a spark... then nothing. i looked over and saw the colt get up slowly good as new. i however was no better than he was a minute ago.

finally it's over and now i can faint. i fell on my face but i didn't faint. derek and roseluck rushed over to me but lily ran over to her friend. they helped me as much as they could but they just pushed me on my back. i was rolling in a puddle of my own blood. i was even coughing it up. my whole body was covered in slashes and scraps... and pain.

"oh no.. no no no." said roseluck. "i'm not letting you die." she said. i laughed and they looked at me.

"you underestimate me." i said. i glowed again. i figured that when i strain too much the energy leaking from my body must find a purpose... and i could give it a purpose. i started secreting black sort of water from the glowing symbols. i flowed over my body and over my scars until they were covered in the stuff. i felt a smooth sensation with a bit of burning.

the black liquid stopped and flowed to the ground where it was quickly sucked up by the dirt. the black liquid cleared to show that i no longer had any scars or scrapes or injuries. i slowly stood up and smiled. i chuckled a bit to myself ,glad that it actually worked. i stopped and turned to the two ponies hugging each other. i used my shadows to pick them both up and they freaked out. i brought them over to me and stared them down with my burning black eyes. they shook.

"as for you two." i said showing my fangs. "there better be a really good reason why you two idiots ran in here ill- prepared, ill-trained, and completely unaware of the incredible danger you had gotten yourselves into... for what." i said.

"well." said the colt taking a gulp before speaking up again. "in all fairness it was my idea so yell at me... it's my fault." he said. willing to take the heat... i like that.

"oh no you're both in this together... now ponies don't just run this deep into the woods. most ponies would have stopped and turned around after an hour of walking but you... you two were looking for something."

"we weren't" said lily. "we just got lost." she said.

"there is a straight path from here to ponyville." i said catching her lie... i was growing impatient. "DON'T LIE TO ME." i said with great power. i few of the plant life around us shriveled and burst into black flames.

"alright alright." said the colt. "i'll tell you the truth." i smiled but i still held onto them. "there are old stories about an ancient treasure... buried deep in the woods... they say it's buried where the ground turns to diamond." he said. ooh yay more riddles. i could tell he wasn't lying. i let them go.

"we're going to go get the treasure." i said. they smiled. "but you two are coming with us and you're going to see just how much trouble you really could have gotten in." i said. i walked past them and down the path. derek ran up to me and roseluck stayed back with her friends. she started scolding them.

"are you sure about this." said derek. "do we really need to go on an adventure right now." he said. i just growled and responded.

" that hurt like a bitch and now i'm wicked pissed. whatever this thing is it can't just be sitting on a log by itself... and i need to kill something." i said. he just sort of dropped back. soon enough the dirt road turned to gravel. and after a while the gravel thinned out into a white sand. this doesn't make sense. the tree's cleared a while back and now it was basically a desert. we walked forward and up a large hill. i reached the top and stared down in amazement.

the whole desert was covered in some kind of ice or something. i slowly walked down and the others reacted the same way. i made my way over to the edge of the ice. this made no sense i thought. i taped the ice and it was warm. it wasn't even ice...it was glass.

"this isn't crystal it's glass." i said. i looked over at the vast wasteland that was coated over in thick tinted glass. it stretched on for miles. how does somepony not know about this place. i looked forward and saw a small building off in the distance. i thought it was just a small one not so far away but i used my enhanced sight.

"holy shit... we made it." said silver hugging lily. they both smiled.

"it's not over yet." i said. "theres a large castle of glass out about a mile forward... if there's any treasure i'd bet it's in there." i said walking forward. the others followed me. walking on glass felt bit weird at first. because it was so thick it was like looking in a mirror up to the sky. i quickly drew up some shadows and put my armour back on.

"crimson." said lily behind me. "i'm sorry for all of this... for what it's worth you can have my share of the treasure." she said.

"yeah and mine too." said silver winds. "if it weren't for you i'd be dead... so if there really is treasure in there it's all yours." he said. i said nothing but they acknowledged the fact that i could hear them and probably agreed which i did. we had already walked half a mile.

a few minutes later the castle grew larger and easily visible. it looked all spikey and had banners on it. the banners weren't torn or dirty, but they had a picture of a blue crystal on them... i don't think were the only ones here.

we got to the castle and surprisingly there was a large moat. it was at least 20 yard long and it wasn't even filled with water or anything... it was just a pit.

"alright we can just fly over and carry others." said silver. he went to take off but i stopped him.

"not so fast." i said. i kicked the glass ground hard and some of it shattered under my hoof. i picked up a large chunk of glass and chucked it over the pit. i flew over halfway and then a large thin tentacle looking thin shot up and grabbed it. "i'm counting how many time you two would have died...thats one." i said and i walked to the edge. there was a draw bridge.

i used my shadows to shoot out two shadowy arms and grabbed the bridge. i started pulling and the tentacles shot up to grab my shadows. they couldn't grab them. they just kept passing through as i slowly pulled down the drawer bridge. soon enough they gave up and sank back down. the door was held shut. i yanked one more time and i could feel the chain holding it up snap and it fell. it hit the edge of the moat with a crash and i pulled my shadows back to me.

we walked forward and made it inside. we looked around it was some kind of hall. like the canterlot one but more sinister looking. there were only two doors and they were at the top of the staircase. we walked over and soon there was a strange laughter that filled the room. it's very sound made me shiver. it was a scratchy and deep.

"it's been awhile since we've had visitors to my little kingdom." said the voice. i looked up to the staircase and saw the glass start to rise from the ground in four well formed lumps. they thickened and took the shape of suits of armour. very interesting.

one looked like a regular night with a sword and shield and full armour. another was a larger looking one with a giant sword. the third was a smaller one with two daggers and thinner armour on. the last one was wearing a robe and was levitating. they were all humanoid too. that impressed me the most.

"ghaaa." yelled silver. "what are they." he said. they did look tough despite the fact they were made of glass.

"say hello to my guards." said the voice. "they'll show you to your final resting places." the voice said and then it laughed as it faded away. derek stepped up next to me. i pushed him back.

"i've got this." i said.

"but." he said but i just looked at him... he knew the look on my face. after being in the same squad together for 12 years and being friends for almost 25 he knew when i didn't need help. so he just backed away. i stood alone in front of the four warriors.

i breathed heavily and they pulled up their weapons. i covered my area with razor sharp shadows. the shadow started to spread slowly across the floor like a virus. i roared a deep roar and so did the warriors. they ran after me and y shouted at them. the force of the shout tore the ground apart and sent two of them flying back. the knight and the assassin jumped by me and attacked and i blocked.

the others ran over and we clashed blades for a while. the heavy gu threw an overhead slash and left himself open. i blocked the attacked and shot two shadows out and into his stomach. i ran him forward to get away from the others. when we were at a safe distance i ripped him in half and jumped through the two halves of the body. he got some kind of blue... i'm guessing blood everywhere.

the mage was really the only one not attacking me. he just stood there and studied my attack style... so i need to mix it up and confuse him. the assassin appeared behind me and managed to slash my side. and disappear. i spun my shadows around like a whirlwind hoping to catch him. i did manage to cut his side open but that wasn't going to stop him.

the knight launched at me and slashed at me. i dodged it and threw my own attack with a volley of arrows. right up close too. he blocked it but a only his top half. his legs were shot full of arrows. he was undeterred. he let out a loud yell and charged at me. he hit me with his shield and brought me along with him. he ran me into a wall and backed up. he went to slash but i vanished and reappeared above him. i used the shadows to cover him in black fire and being made of glass melted and boiled. he let out a horrifying scream all the way through it.

i turned around to see the assassin flying at me from nowhere. i used my shadows to dodge and catch his foot. i threw him into the air. he regained his balance quickly and threw two knives at me. i could barely react. one hit me in the shoulder the other was in the arm. i grit my teeth in pain and looked back to him. he threw down a few small pellets and they bursted out into smoke.

i had to concentrate. i closed my eyes and started to listen and not hear. she slashed me in the back and ran off. fuck that ain't going to work. i spun my shadows around in a tornado and the smoke cleared. i could see him again. he flew at me and i lashed out one shadow. i cut clean through him and his head rolled off of his shoulders. he dropped to the ground and slid a bit. i looked over. now it was just the mage. this was going to be tough.

he was just standing there with his hands up his sleeves. he drew his hands out and placed them by his side. he rose up one hand. i clenched it into a fist. the ground beneath me broke out into a jet of spikes. i managed to fly upward fast enough that i didn't get skewered but it did get me a bit. he opened his fist upward and the spikes shot out like arrows. my eyes widened and i quickly barrel rolled out of the way.

"you foolish colt." said the mage... so apparently they can talk. "you can't run from me in a place made of glass... this is my playing field." he said. he moved his hands around some more and the castle around me started shooting out shards of glass and all sorts of things. i put a shield over me but it wouldn't last long. i needed to level the playing field. i looked down and the patches of spike that he was using were casting shadows. perfect. i concentrated and the shadows grew darker and covered the room . the mage stopped his assault and looked around. i quickly sunk into the shadows.

"you demon." he said throwing around shards of glass still. "show yourself." i fired an arrow of shadow from behind and i stuck him in the back .he yelled and started throwing magic glass around everywhere. i fired them from all sides and he slowly fell. he dropped to his knees and looked at the ground. i reappeared and walked over to him. he just looked up at me and i hung several shadows over him. he closed his eyes and i tore him to pieces. it was over.

i sat down and caught my breath as the shadows from all around the room crawled over and collected under me and made my armour thicker. i breathed heavily and the others ran over.

"damn bro... you can really fight." said derek.

"yeah you totally kicked their glassy asses." said roseluck laughing at her own bad joke. i smiled and slowly let my shadows heal me. then the annoying voice returned.

"well it looks like you and the knights didn't exactly play well together." said the voice laughing again. the ice doors on top of the staircase opened and we walked over. we walked up the stairs and through the doors. we walked into another large room. it had small doors lining it. "now say hello to the crystal citizens." said the voice. i didn't like this.

"get over there." i said to roseluck and her friends pointing to where the doors were. they ran over but they shut closed before they could get out. i used my magic to pull a shield over them. i looked back and saw the doors along the walls swing open. i bunch of guards with swords and shields started walking out. they circled us. they were ponies this time... strange.

"got any ideas." said derek.

"don't die." i said.

"i could have thought of that." he replied. he used his magic to pull his sword to him. the guards readied themselves and charged. i yelled and i wave of spike shadows broke through the ground in front of me and cleaved a path in the warriors. they broke easily. i started lashing shadows everywhere and destroyed as many warriors as i could. derek swung his sword wildly but with precision. he started slashing them in half and they shattered. he used his magic to also pick up the warriors and hurled them into each other.

the attack continued for 20 minutes. i had killed so many of these things and there was a consistent pool of blue blood on the floor. i threw whatever i could to kill them any faster. i threw out bladed tentacles, exploding shadow bolts, waves of jagged shadows, volleys of arrows, and i even learned i can shoot off black lightning from my chest. that was a new personal favorite. i kept lashing out waves of shadows one after another and soon enough there weren't any more left. was that it did we win. the voice started laughing.

"i've had enough of that." it said. "keep it up and we'll be here for years." he said. i was a bit scared to know that this could have dragged on for years. i looked over to see a pair of giant thick doors opened up into another room. oh god this can't be much longer i thought to myself. we walked forward. silver and lily were a bit hesitant but they stayed close. we all made it through the doorway. i looked around. it was an empty room absolutely nothing special.

"now now. then." said the voice. "will the bravest please step forward." he said laughing again. i flew forward without hesitation. the walls around me shifted outward into... stands? the stands filled up with glass ponies and warriors. a few chains flew out of nowhere and grabbed my friends. they were pulled into chairs and made to sit down. they were stuck there. they tried to struggle free.

i ran over to them but a wall of glass spikes broke up from the ground and stopped me. the voice laughed again. the crowd cheered and i looked over and sure enough there was the one responsible for this. he was a skinny little man. humanoid but he had spiky black hair and pointy ears... was he like an elf or something... i thought elves were small things.

"now now." he said floating in the air on a cloud. "this is not a team event... if you win the match i will give you what you came here for and i will return your friends. on my word as an elf." he said. so he was an elf, interesting.

"why not fight me yourself." i said. snarling and showing my teeth.

"me. oh heavens no." he said. "i'm not a violent elf." he said brushing his nails. i already hated him. "so you're going to choose a door." he said gesturing to three doors. two of them were small ones and there was one big one. the big one had to be a bluff... he's too tricky to not have thought of this.

"the big door." i said.

"you poor stupid fool." he said smiling. "what in all of equestria made you chose the biggest door." she said laughing. the crowd pointed and laughed. i don't think it was a bluff. i shied back and gathered as many shadows as i could for the fight ahead of me. the doors slowly cranked open and revealed nothing but darkness. soon i could see a pair of hateful red eyes. they looked around and rested on me.

the beast emerged from the dark and soon was visible for everyone. it was a giant dragon looking thing. it had large torn wings that it flared out proudly. he had a slender head with jagged teeth. sharp claws and a forked tail. it took a breath and breathed out smoke.

"i call her screaming death." said the elf. i almost didn't want to know. the beast raised it's head and let out a loud shriek into the air followed by the low sound of a trumpet. it was a horrifying sound. i saw that she had natural armour on her. it was a natural exoskeleton. very interesting indeed. she looked down at me and shrieked again. the force of the shriek popped my ears and messed up my hair with the gust of wind coming from her mouth. that must be why they call her screaming death. she got up and started circling me. i walked in a circle too. i needed to find a weakness. that's it.

she doesn't have any armour on her neck. this was going to be good. she growled a bit and i did to. she lunged at me went for a bite but i lept into the air. i went for her neck but she turned her head around and shot a volley of flames at me. i got caught in the fire and quickly flew out. no bad burns but it was hot. she shrieked again and got up. she started lashing her tail at me. i dodged and jumped up. i went for the neck again.

"crimson no." said a voice but it was too late . i used a shadow to cut the head clean off. it fell to the ground and so did the body. i roared in victory and the crowd booed me. that was too easy i thought, then the elf started laughing.

"c'mon baby." he said to the dragon "get up". i looked back in horror as the headless body got back onto it's feet. a small sack of tissue pushed it's way out of the neck and burst. three heads shot out and all three heads shrieked at me. the combined force caused me to go deaf for a while and flew me into the wall. she lept into the air and released a lower noise into the air. it sounded like a horn. she looked back and she shot a cold frost at me. it was so cold but i bared it. it started to freeze me over and my armour froze. she stopped and i broke the ice off. i covered the entire area around me with shadows and launched a volley of flaming arrows at her.

i was concentrating hard and the symbols on me started to glow. i flew up and bolted right at her. i started hacking and slashing her with my shadows while she whipped her tail around. one head shrieked. the other released a wall of flames after me. and the other breathed a cold gust everywhere. what the fuck is this thing.

"crimson it's some kind of hydra." said roseluck. "if you cut it's heads off it will grow more." she said. i can't cut it off but i can kill the brain. i flew down to one of the heads and landed. i pulled up several shadows and pierced them through the skull of the third head. it thrashed around and shrieked until it fell limp. i flew away. i looked at it from the sky.

the third head had been killed. i thought. i watched in disbelief as the head came loose and fell of. the flesh boiled and the head was replaced by three more. it now had five heads. aw c'mon. i flew back down and continued my assault of various attacks. i wasn't paying attention and the tail hit me. the spines of the beast were sharp and it sliced me across the chest. i felt to the ground and quickly got up. i roared and flexed every muscle in my body. the symbols on my figure started to glow even brighter and spark.

i flew back over and flew above the beast. i let out the loudest roar ever and a beam of dark light shot from in front of me and covered the beast. it destroyed the ground completely and the castle shook. the beam stopped and there was nothing but a column of smoke. i didn't know i could do that... scratch what i said about the lightning. that is the best yet. i flew closer to the smoke to see if i won but the smoke was too thick and dark. i jumped when i saw a giant head fly out towards me. i tried to move but it got me. i closed it's jaws down on me and crushed my leg in it's fangs. i yelled in excruciating pain. i was inside the beast's mouth. i tried my best to get out but the tongue kept me from moving forward.

i couldn't just blow myself out because then i'd have a seven headed monster to deal with. i used my shadows to cut off the tongue. the beast roared and let go of my leg. i pulled it off the spiked teeth and fell back. i tried to push back to the teeth but i was being swallowed. before i knew it i was in the esophagus. i kept fighting but it was no use. the muscles in the throat slowly started caressing me and crushed me. soon i felt myself break fee and fall.

i fell into some kind of liquid. it was stomach acid. it immediately started to burn. i yelled and flew up into the air. i used my night vision to look around. i was in the beast's stomach. i can't fly forever and eventually i'll just be food. i guess i failed. i hanged my head in defeat. and just slowly floated there. still cringing from the acid that already burnt me.

after all my grunting and moaning over the pains i quieted down and everything was silent. except for a small beating noise in the background... how can i be this stupid. this hydra just insured it's own death. i gathered a few shadows and started lashing them at the inner walls of the stomach. i felt the beast shake and move around.

"ya feel that bitch." i yelled. "fuck you." i said making one more slash and the stomach tore open. she made a loud shriek and rumbled around. that was probably already enough to kill her but i wasn't done. i started lashing my shadows everywhere and cut all kinds of arteries and organs. i was getting covered in blood. i looked over and saw a large beating head of tissue. the heart.

i slashed at the heart once but it was resilient. i slashed at it again and again and again. talk about a literal heart attack. i slashed at it one more time. i roared and swung the bladed shadow. it cut right through and the heart burst and soaked me with blood. i smiled. i felt everything shift around and there was a large thud. i fell onto a layer of tissue and muscle. i got up and stood. i used my shadows to slash away at the matter in front of me.

it soon became tough when i had to slash my way through the spine. i wonder if that beam thing would work. i concentrated hard. the symbols on my body started to glow bright again and spark. i thought hard on performing it. i let out a roar and i was surrounded by dark light. it broke past the hydra's spine and through the thick armour plating above it. i could see light. i slowly flew up covered in blood and still being surrounded by this evil light which i have summoned.

the light faded and i flew down to the ground. the crowd was silent. i guess i wasn't supposed to win. my friends however were cheering wildly. i smiled and waved. i was absolutely a mess.

"no...no...no." said a rather grumpy sounding voice. "you weren't supposed to win... you were supposed to get eaten." he said. i felt a slight pain on the back of my head. it felt like a small knife. i ignored it probably just a crick in my neck.

"i believe we had a deal." i said.

"no you cheated... you'll never see your friends again." he said. that one sentence flared an incredible anger in me but i controlled it and used it to form power instead on anger. the symbol on my body glowed and the back of my neck hurt some more. i still ignored it. i took one step forward and the glass ground under us shattered completely. it was nothing but shards now. i slowly lifted into the air without my wings.

"i just got eaten by a hydra and then ripped it heart out... do you really think this is smart." i said trying to warn him and scare him.

"you don't scare me." he said. "you... you are weak... release the other beasts." he said. the two smaller gates opened to reveal a large evil glowing green scorpion. it walked out and started snapping it's pincers.

the next door opened to reveal a large stone statue. it was about two storied high. it was a warrior statue, he had a shield and sword. some sort of green light sparked inside of him and he sprung to life and ran out.

"kill him... kill him now." said the elf disappearing. they both charged at me. i kept calm. i used my shadows to fly a spike of darkness up through the scorpion and it curled up and died. that was easy. the warrior then ran over. i looked at him and my eyes flashed to red.

"stop." i said calmly. he slowed down and came to a halt in front of me. i smiled. i watched as the shadows on the ground quickly ran up his body and spread like disease. the stone he was made out of crumbled to dust and he was no more than a pile of dirt. too easy.

"no no no no." said the elf. "you must... fight the army now." he said. i looked to the vast stands. the ponies and humanoids sat up and turned into soldiers. the started to rush down the stands. but with one thought the entire stands was lit up in dark flames. i listed to the screams of the glass people as they boiled and melted. "no... no."

"theres nopony else elf... you going to have to fight me now." there was a breeze and the elf appeared with a chest in his hand. and a sword in the other.

"you get to chose." he said. "you can take the treasure now and i won't kill you but i get to keep your friends." he said. i looked down to my friends and there were chained and gagged. roseluck and lily were crying. "or fight me and die." he said.

"alright elf." i said casting away my armour and giving myself nothing but a sword of shadows. i floated down to the ground and he did to. "lets dance." i said...ohhh that was cheesy.

"you have no idea." he said. "i've trained at the elven capital for 35 years you can't beat me." i looked over him and noticed he was shaking. this guy was so full of it. i wonder if the princess would like his head. i smiled. he let out an obnoxious yell and charged at me. i stood my ground.

he jumped up and brought his sword down. without even touching the blade i stopped if before me. he tried to pull it away but i held it tight. i bent the sword's blade and wrapped it around his hands. he was bound. i used my magic to remove the chains from my friends and wrap him up in them. i put a gag in his mouth and he started murmuring. poor fool.

i finally settled down and fully turned off my magic. i almost collapsed but derek and roseluck walked over and caught me. they just smiled at me and lily and silver walked over smiling.

"oh my god..." said derek. "there's just no end to the surprises when it comes to you is there."

"i doubt." i said. "hey is there something on the back of my neck." i said pulling up my hair. derek and roseluck looked close.

"yeah you got one of those scars there... it must be a new virtue like the princess said." exclaimed derek.

"what does it look like." i asked.

"it looks like a yin and yang symbol." said derek.

"what's yin and yang." asked roseluck.

"we call it that were we came from... you might know it as a symbol of balance." i said. she looked over.

"oh yeah that's the symbol of balance alright." she said. that was kinda cool. i picked my head up and saw the chest. i walked over to it and grabbed it.

"this better be worth getting eaten." i said. the others walked over and crowded around. i flipped the top and peered in. i smiled.

"ROCKS." said silver and lily.

"no not just rocks." i said. i picked one up and the ancient runes on it started to glow. "these are ancient wishing tablets." i said.

"i' done with magic forever." said silver. "like i said they're yours." he said. i smiled and tossed the rune back into the chest. it was chalk full of them. this was indeed worth it. the thing about these tablets is that they can do anything from bringing the dead back to life... to just setting back time... these things were powerful.

"what about this guy." said derek kicking the elf. "should we kill him." he said.

"no the poor guys delusional. besides i think the princess might know him." i said.

"what makes you say that." asked roseluck.

"think about it... this guy lives in a giant glass castle in a field of glassed desert just past the everfree forest... how has nopony accidentally found this place before... i't a bit suspicious... she might want to at least hear about it." i said.

"alright." said derek. "we should get going. it's getting dark." he said. he was right the sun had begun to set. i tied the chest to my back with some rope and used my shadows to make it levitate on a cloud of smoke so i could pull it. derek threw the elf over his back and we set off. we had a long journey in front of us.

it was about an hour later that we cleared the glazed desert and made it back into the forest. we walked through the forest and the sun had more than set. it was pitch black. the only light came from dereks horn as he lit the way. i just hope something doesn't attack us, because i don't know how much more i have left in me.

we got to the break in the road where we walked down the side of the shrub. we walked off up the steep hill and back onto the road to ponyville. my back was starting to kill me and even though the chest i was carrying was floating it still weighed a ton... and the ropes have started to cut into my hips... god i'm getting too old for this.

we continued to walk through the woods and it was getting cold. roseluck cuddled up to derek and lily cuddled up to silver. i was alone in the cold. i felt the cold rush by on my open wounds. i didn't want anypony to freak but i'm not as airtight as they think. when the hydra bit my leg it almost tore it off. i've been sucking up the pain since but it was too much and i started limping.

it wasn't long until i had started to fall behind. the cold night breeze blew past my hair and my open wounds. the smell of the forest filled up my nose. reminds me when i was a kid and i used to go play in the woods. i always ended up hurting myself in some way.. sometimes just a few scratches other times i usually broke something... i used to be a handfull is what my mother told me all the time. she said i used to break more bones than i even had. she was the best. i miss her.

i looked ahead and noticed that they were completely gone now. only dereks bright light. i was cast out from the glow and invisible in the dark. i wanted to shout out but my throat was so dry and sore. i just hung my head and realized that i'd be making this journey alone now. it was only a matter of time until i couldn't even see his light anymore. i was all alone in the dark and cold. i felt like singing but my throat. wait a sec. i opened my bag and grabbed the canteen. i took a swig... well i drank all of it. i cleared my throat.

"when hours have gone by... i'll close my eyes." i sang softly. "in a world far away, we may meet again, but now hear my song, about the dawn of the night." i continued to sing.

i stopped for a second and listened. the forest around me was silent. but when i stopped singing the animals of the forest began to make noise again. i smiled and warmed my throat again still moving along the path.

"theres only one song, left in my mind, Tales of a brave man who lived far from here... now our songs are over and it's time to leave... no one should ask you for the name of the one, who tells the story..."

the forest had started to blow it's winds and the animals scurried along the ground next to me. the bird's chirped in tune and i smiled. this place isn't so bad after all. i continued with my song.

"tomorrow will take us away, far from home... no one will ever know our names... but our songs will remain... tomorrow all will be known... and you're not alone... so don't be afraid of the dark and cold..."

that was an old song i used to listen to sometimes. it was the bards song by blind guardian. one of my favorite classical metal bands. i used to sing those parts whenever i felt lonely. the little creatures continued to hop around me as i limped my way back home.

"ahhh ah ahhh ah ah ah ah ahhhhhh." i just hummed the rest because i forgot it. plus it's a nice tune to hum. i slowly limped my way out of the forest and the little critters scampered back in. i kept humming the tune and took a left from the trail. eventually i was on the main road.

i looked behind me to see that i had been trailing blood. i needed to sit down. i found a nice bench under a street light. i sat down and brought my injured leg over. i cringed when i saw it. the muscle was torn and lacerated. you could see the bone which was cracked and it was just nasty. i didn't have the energy in me anymore to heal myself.i noticed that it wasn't the only thing bleeding. i was still covered in the hydra's blood. oh this is going to be fun to explain... mell i can fake injury and maybe get away. make her feel bad. alright i'll try that.

i got back up and stepped on the ground. i cringed when i put my full weight on my fucked up leg and quickly pulled it up. i looked in my bag for anything but i was fresh out of health potions, damn. i limped my way down the main road. my house is still like half an hour away. oh dash must be worried sick.

about fifteen minutes later i passed sugarcube corner. i stubbed my bad leg on something and fell to the ground. i grunted in pain. i tried getting up but just fell again. i tried one more time and i got up. i limped on to my house. and eventually i got to the path. i walked down the path which took me another two minutes and eventually i was in front of the door. i opened it up and walked in. i undid the harness and let the chest float there on a smoke cloud.

i saw as dash bolted down the stairs to see me leaning against the doorway. she cupped her hooves over her mouth. i just put on a fake smile with the energy i had left and used the rest o say something.

"don't worry babe... most of it... ain't even mine." with that said i fell to the floor and the chest dropped behind me with a thud. i almost fell asleep there but dash walked over and picked me up and brought me to the couch. i got blood stains everywhere. they weren't really bad, most of the blood had already dried to my fur.

"what happened... where's derek and the two ponies you rescued." she said firing off several questions. i brought my hoof to her mouth and she was quiet.

" roselucks friends are safe and derek and roseluck are probably at her house." i said.

"what do you mean probably and what happened to you." she said.

"well what happened is a long story, and i don't have that kind of energy right now... and when we were walking back derek and the others started walking faster than me because i was hurt... so i got left behind." i said.

"oh you poor baby." she said. "where does it hurt."

i held up my mangled leg and she threw up in her mouth.

"oh sweet celestia that is disgusting." she said covering her mouth

"i just need to get some rest and restore my energy so i can heal." i said. "then tomorrow i'm going over to roselucks and i'm going to shove dereks horn so far up his ass he'll choke on it." dash smiled.

"can i at least wash you so you don't make a mess everywhere." she said.

"yeah i replied. "i think i can get up and walk around on my own but that's as far as i go." i said. "oh yes and one more thing." i said. i got up and slowly limped over to the open door. the chest was still floating outside. i got behind it and started pushing it with my head. dash walked over and stopped me. she pushed it along easily with one hoof while helping me with the other.

she set it down and walked over to me. she knelt down next to me and i laid on the couch. she smiled faintly and gave me a kiss on my cheek. it probably tasted of blood. she rested her head on my chest and sighed. i smiled and rubbed her head.

it's good to know our love is strong.

-Authors note: so I've been writing allot since the last chapter. i was prescribed medication by my doctor for my ADHD. being honest with you guys i was not excited about that. on the first day i accidentally read the bottle wrong and the prescription and accidentally overdosed. i took 40mg of prescription Aderol. I got SO MUCH SHIT DONE. i was so focused on writing i wrote constantly all day and most of the night because the meds kept me from sleeping. i wrote so much that i accidentally broke Google docs. i had to make a second document because the story took up too much space. so i'm getting back into the writing and i'm not over dosing anymore by accident. just thought i'd share with you guys and also help explain why i posted so much shit in like 2 days... stay cool.-End of Note-


	48. Chapter 48: True Tales To True Hero's

"what did you get now." she asked. she was already judging me. great.

"this chest is full of those ancient tablet things." i said. dash sighed and rolled her eyes.

"great more possible weapons." she said.

"they aren't weapons... these can be used to do great things." i said. "with these i can make everyponies dreams come true." i said.

"i don't think everyponies will." i cut her off.

"look inside." i said. i pushed the chest over to the corner and the cloud carefully set it down and it disappeared. she opened it up and stared at the chest full of ancient wishing tablets.

"holy shit... there's hundreds of them." she said.

"yep and i'm going to use them to help everypony." i said.

"why." asked dash with a smile.

"you know why." i said.

"because you're the kindest, funniest, smartest, most loving, and most heroic pony equestria has ever seen." she said rubbing my chest. i smiled.

"is that all." i said jokingly.

"no..." she said smiling. "you're also the best in bed." she said blushing.

"oh stop it you." i said. she leaned over on me and rested her hoof on my bad leg accidentally. i grit my teeth and grunted in pain. she jumped right off.

"oh i'm sorry." she said. she got up and went to the downstairs bathroom. "i'll go get you some medicine." she said.

"since when do we have medicine." i said.

"since i decided that if you were to come home like... well like this, you might want some painkillers or aspirin."

"alright... can't say that doesn't sound too bad right now." i said. she walked into the bathroom. there were a few fumbling noises and then she came back out with a bottle. she opened it up and handed me two small blue pills. i put them in my mouth and swallowed.

after a few minutes i started feeling a bit better. i got up and dash helped me upstairs to the bathroom. she ran the water and started a bath. i got in and it was nice and warm. i stuck my mangled leg in and i cringed from the pain. the water turned red from the blood and she started rubbing me down.

while she was scrubbing me down the pressure of the brush managed to open a few of my naturally healing wounds and the bath water was also colored with my own blood.

"how did you get this much blood on you... you sure it's not yours." she said.

"positive... i could never forget the battle i walked away like this from." i said.

"what even happened." said dash.

"i really don't want to talk about it right now... maybe tomorrow."

"can you at least tell me about the part with the blood." she asked. "i think i deserve to know."

"fine... i was fighting a hydra and it ate me." i said. dash stopped her scrubbing.

"wait it ate you... but." she said. i stopped her.

"yes it ate me. and that's also what happened to my leg, it got bitten into by one of the heads... so then it swallowed me and i fell into it's stomach. i burned myself in it's stomach acids but got out quickly." i said.

"and then you just tore it up from the inside." said dash guessing the rest of the story.

"yep... most of this blood came from the heart... and other organs."

"that sounds disgusting." said dash scrubbing again. "i don't think i could ever do that." she said.

"it was pretty gross. it was all slimy and dark... and don't even get me started on the smell." i said. she laughed. i chuckled a bit too.

"well my hero... you've had a big adventure today... and then you were eaten, but have you even eaten yet." she said. when she brought up food my stomach started to growl. it was quite loud. "i'll take that as a no" she said.

"well i am a bit hungry." i said.

"alright i'll get you some food and you just dry off and head downstairs. then we can go to bed." she said.

"that sounds wonderful... and when we get to bed i'll tell you what happened." i said. she smiled and left the bathroom. i pulled the tubs drain plug and got out. my leg was still hurting, and also bleeding a bit. now it was clean i could get a better look. it still looked horrible. most of the skin was gone and you could see the bare muscle and tares.

there were long julienne slices running deep through the tissue and muscle. some spots were void of tissue and you could see the bone which was cracked. one spot of visible bone had a deep cut in it and you could see the bone marrow. it was worse than i thought.

i took one step but despite the painkillers i still had to limp because of the pain. i limped to the mirror and looked at myself. i had large gashed and burns everywhere. the only blood left on me was from the reopened wounds and my leg. i limped downstairs still trailing blood. i smelt fresh cupcakes. i walked into the kitchen.

i saw dash had a large pan full of cupcakes. they looked delicious. i walked over and she handed me one. i took a bite it was a bit hot but the heat added flavor. she makes cupcakes better than i do. i got some water and downed the glass. i yawned and dash smiled but she stopped smiling when she really got a good look at me.

"what... you're still bleeding." she said. "uh... maybe you should go and get some help... we should go to the hospital." she said.

"there wouldn't be anypony there." i said. "it's too late"

"well... maybe twilight then can help you... just go bother her." said dash. i smiled.

"alright. and i'll bring her one of the tablets too." i said. i limped over to the chest and opened it up. i grabbed one of them in my teeth. it was heavy but i managed to drag it to my bag and put it in there. i threw my bags on and they too were heavy but i could do it. i limped over to the doorway and opened the door.

"do you want me to walk you to twilight's." said dash. "it is a bit of a walk."

"that's fine... when she heals me i'm going to go and shove thunders horn up his ass like i said..." she smiled and covered her mouth. "you probably don't need to see that." i said.

"alright... but if anything happens let me know somehow alright... and no more adventures without telling me." she said.

"alright... if anything exciting happens i'll rush home and tell you." i said walking out the door and closing it behind me. it was cold outside. there was a gentle breeze. it felt nice after being in the warm water. i made my way to twilight's.

i limped all the way down the path to my house and onto the main road. it was a at least two hours after twelve and twilight would probably be pissed when i go knock on her door. well i guess that's just another part of the job.

i continued to limp my way through the dark late night streets of ponyville. i was still bleeding and i probably was leaving a nice blood trail. eventually twilight's house came into view from the light of the street lamps. i slowly limped my way over and soon enough i was at the door. i took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

i waited for a second and saw a light turn on upstairs. i heard a few footsteps and another light turned on behind the door. the knob turned and the door swung open revealing a very tired twilight with messy hair. she had her eyes almost completely closed and she didn't look too happy.

"this better be good." she said.

"hey twilight." i said. upon hearing my voice some sort of energy sparked inside of her and she fully opened her eyes. she seemed a bit more upset than before.

"crimson what the hell it's like 2 in the morning what do y-" is all she said before getting a look at me. "oh sweet celestia what happened... what did you do to yourself... and" she stopped and almost threw up. "oh no.. you... your leg what...how did you do that." she said keeping her hoof over her mouth. she almost threw up a few times in that sentence. her cheeks blew up and she ran up the stairs.

i walked in and i could hear her throwing up in the bathroom. i looked back at my leg. it was still the same. i guess she was a bit squeamish. she threw up again and i heard the toilet flush. the door to the bathroom closed and she slowly walked down the stairs. her face was all green from nausea.

"can you heal me." i said.

"what about..." she said stopping and almost throwing up again. "what about you're shadows." she said.

"the trip to the woods turned out to be a bit more complicated than a rescue mission... in the end i had to limp back home with my reward from the journey and i'm completely drained." i said.

"what happened to the others." she said.

"they were there too. but on the trip back home i started to slow down from the injury and i guess they never noticed i fell behind... i still don't think they've noticed... so can you help me." i asked.

"i can...ugh." she said shivering from the nausea " i can heal the cuts and scrapes but... you... leg." she said almost throwing up again. "it's too damaged... i can't fix that... oh celestia i can see the bone marrow." she said and she ran into the kitchen. she threw up in the sink.

"so you can't fix it because it really hurts." i said.

"you're lucky you've adapted i high tolerance to pain... a normal pony would be screaming and kicking for at least a week." she said.

"well i also loaded up on painkillers at home before limping my way here."

"wait you went home first." she said. "why did you come here then." she asked.

"because i thought you could fix me." i said watching her walk out of the kitchen with a green face. "and i even brought you something." i said. i opened my bag and pulled out the tablet. her eyes grew wider. she used her magic to levitate it over and she looked at it.

"oh my gosh... you're just going to give this to me." she said.

"so you know what it is." i asked.

"yes this is an ancient ultimatum tablet... ancient ponies and magicians would fill these things with raw magic and that magic can be interpreted in any way through the tablet."

"yeah basically it grants wishes." i said.

"well yes... how can you... just, give it to me like this." she said.

"well i did a lot of fighting on my quest and the reward was worth it... i got an entire chest full of them." i said.

" chest." she said excitedly but also shocked. "AN ENTIRE CHEST OF THEM"

"yep" i said. "i calculate that there might be enough for almost all of ponyville." i said.

"sweet celestia... how do you find these things." she said.

"remember... excitement is practically magnetically attracted to me. i can't turn it off." i said smiling.

"this is so kind of you." she said. "you could have used these to make all of your wishes come true...literally... but instead you going to grant the towns wishes." i smiled. "the princess was right." she said. that caught my attention.

"what was the princess right about." i asked.

"when you first turned into a pony and went into the coma i questioned her about weather it was a good idea or not. she told me that you were going to do great things." she said.

"well damn... that's a bit scary." i said.

"yeah the princess is a bit scary when you get to know her." said twilight.

"yeah i've noticed." i said. i watched as twilight read over the rune. she studied it inquisitively. "so do you have like a translator too, because the princess told me that these scars on my body can be read and translate into different virtues." i said.

"the depictions like the heart on your chest and the design on both of your shoulders and legs are traits. like love is the heart. the symbol on your shoulders is for strength. and the symbol near the base of your legs that looks like lightning is for speed." she said. "and yes the rest are traits and whenever you learn a new one the flow of magic in your body changes and so do the marks. except for the traits."

"well after my adventure i think i got a new one on the back of my neck." i said. i pulled up my hair which had fallen out of it's foxtail some time ago and i've never bothered to put it back. twilight walked over and looked at it.

"i think i know this symbol." she said.

"in my world we call it yin and yang.. which translates from a foreign language to 'push and pull' it's the sign of balance and control." i said.

"yes" said twilight hovering a book in front of her. "this says 'the symbol of balance. an ancient symbol of which the ancient pony warriors and adventurers would call ' the unicorns banner' it symbolizes the balance between ultimate power and ultimate control over the power. the two combine and create perfect balance."

"that's pretty much the same that humans believe." i said. she continued to read however.

"it says if a pony can achieve this balance he or she will become the ultimate breed of warrior... most mages wear the symbol and hoped it to bring them power and balance." she stopped reading and closed the book.

"so when did you get that." she said.

"when i was fighting a hydra." i said.

"what was a hydra doing in the middle of the everfree forest." she said.

"it's a really long story twi and i don't have the willpower to tell it right now... so can i continue." i said.

"alright but i want to hear this story at some point." she said.

"so after the hydra swallowed me whole which is how this happened to my leg." i said sticking out my bad leg and showing twilight. she almost threw up again and turned away. i put my leg back behind me and she turned back.

"so you were eaten by a hydra... you're fucking ridiculous." she said

"hey... there were witnesses." i said. i decided to carry on with my story. "so after being swallowed and being burned by stomach acid." i said pointing to patches a burnt skin and hairless spots. "i attacked it from the inside. and i needed to get out through the beast but it was hard since it had a natural armour on it. and i don't know how but... uh..." i said thinking about how to approach this.

"what happened." twilight asked. i kept thinking. "well go on." she said.

"i don't really know what happened. i just closed my eyes and everything felt calm. i opened my eyes and i was surrounded in the giant beam of black energy that tore right through the hydra. i flew out and i was confronted my more enemies. i was able to take them out in seconds and i used my shadows in ways i didn't even know i could do." i said.

"this story just gets better doesn't it." she said. resting her head on her hoof. she was still probably tired. i was tired too.

"and this is just the end..." i said. " i don't know how i did it... it's just like i had forever to think about what i needed to do and i did it...i just did it." i said.

"well you seem to change every time i see you." she said.

"i know..." i agreed. "it's scary... but it feels... normal." i said. "i think the princess was right... and there's still so much more to learn." i said. i was getting a bit excited.

"alright alright... calm down you're forgetting how late it is... now i think i can stomach the look of your leg so let me see." said twilight. i was hesitant to stick it out in fear of making her throw up again but she gestured me to show her.

i sat down and stuck my leg out for her. she almost threw up again but swallowed it. i think she could stomach it. she levitated a pillow over and rested my leg on it. there was already blood puddling on her floor now her pillow too.

"well the bad news is... this is beyond fixing." she said.

"you mean it's going to be like this forever." i said.

"not exactly like this but it is going to be deformed... not even you're shadows could heal this. there's far too much damage. you're lucky it wasn't any higher or it would have torn the ligaments in your knee and you would never be able to walk on this leg again." she said

"so it's really bad huh." i said.

"the ligament in your hoof to your leg has snapped but i can fix that so you could at least walk normally on it." her horn glowed and the damaged part of my leg did too. i watched as the ligament ,a sort of beige colored elastic looking muscle, stretched from both ends and connected in the middle. it fused together and i could feel the tip of my hoof again. twilight's horn stopped and she took a deep breath.

"thank you twilight." i said. i started moving my back hoof around and watched as the ligament stretched. you could see it through the holes of tissue. there were small holes in the thin part of the tissue from when i fell in the hydra's stomach acid. the acid burn had caused the outlying skin area to burn and turn a rashy red.

"don't mention it just bandage it up and stop the bleeding and i guess you'll be fine in about a month." she said. "it is going to look rather ugly though."

"so how come magic can't fix it." i asked.

"because the cut is so deep that it's torn through the passage of magic." she said. "that passage cannot be introduced to the magic of an exposed outside source. the effects can cause all sorts of mental problems for both unicorns or in this case, magical beings once their magic is fused together... it's a complicated thing."

"where is the passage of magic." i asked.

"it basically covers the bone... that's why unicorns have horns made of bone because it's a direct link from the passage of magic to the outside world... yours is rather interesting though." she said. "i've looked into the way you're magic works right after you presented it to us." she said.

"tell me." i said.

"well basically when you're eyes are glowing it projects the magic through those. this happens through the effect of a special type of archaic magic were ponies would control the minds of others just by looking at them... this practice of magic is obviously illegal now. but by doing this you use your own magic to fuel the receptors in your eyes. those then directly control the feral and raw magic in the air everywhere." she said.

"let me get this straight. i'm not using my magic personally on things. but the magic in the air... how does magic get into the air." i asked rather confused.

"well when unicorns are constantly secreting invisible magical essence. this stays in the air for hundreds of years and clings to everything. so if you want to do something you just concentrate on the magical essence on an object and the possibilities are endless." she said.

"never really saw it that way... but the shadows i use feel so real. like i can feel everything they can feel, it's like they've become part of me." i said looking over at my own shadow. twilight's face dropped.

"are... are you sure you can feel them." she said.

"every touch and feeling." i said.

"well i didn't know that... this changes everything." she said running over to the bookshelves and flying a few books over to her.

"is everything alright." i asked.

"magic isn't supposed to be link to a nervous connection with the body... this is something else... i know i remember reading about this." she said. "ah here it is." she said pulling over a book and reading through the pages.

the title of the book read "ancient magic and spells.". it was a nice thick book. probably a riveting read for somepony like twilight. although she must have fun with the spells.

"is this where you learn all of your spells." i asked smiling. "that's quite the read."

"no it's not... it impossible to use these spells without the use of these ancient magical methods." she said.

"i didn't think magic was one of those things that could change." i said.

"magic is always evolving to the environment around it... these ancient means of magic were the most powerful ever. they needed to be if the ponies wanted to be strong enough to survive, but as equestria became a friendlier place the practice and use of magic evolved from a battle styled magic to that of modern comfort." she said.

"so it became weak and subtle." i said shortening what she just said.

"well yes basically." she said. "ah here it is." she exclaimed. she walked the book over and sat down in front of me. she buried her face right back into the book.

"what does it say." i asked.

"shh." she said. "there is a use of magic that binds the soul of the caster and links the spell to all stimulants in the body, heart beat, nervous connection, even mental synapses in the brain. this gives the magic ,in it's own sense, it's own personality yet it is still under the control of the castor."

"thats kinda scary." i said.

"little is known about how the caster goes about performing this. once the first link to the soul is made linking again becomes second nature. through the linking process the magical energy envelops the soul in a shield increasing resistance to all sorts of damage and causing the hosts body to adapt and react in unreal speeds."

"alright i guess that makes sense." i said. "still sounds scary."

"this process will heal major wounds and broken limbs at a rate 20 times as fast. it will also cause the body to continually pump adrenaline into the bloodstream. the heart rate increases and the lungs transport air to the lungs more efficiently. the body will also replace blood faster than anypony would lose if their jugular had been cut open" i watched twilight's eyes widen in shock and impression as she read on. "all wounds except for ones that should break the circulation of magic energy in the body... this part of the body will never be able to fully heal and becomes useless to the caster's magic."

"so i guess that would explain my leg. you were right." i said

"i guess i was" she said. "this is very interesting. i thought i had read this but i didn't know any of it. i usually skipped the parts about the use of magic." she said.

"well it's good to know more about myself." i said. "hopefully this will help me strengthen my skills and hone my abilities and magic." i said. twilight rolled her eyes and stuffed her face back into the book and continued to read. i listened closely.

"this method of magic is among one of the most powerful, and mysterious practices of magic and is also quite rare were as it has never occurred in unicorns who have acquired their magic at birth which keeps it from being anything but part of them and cannot be bound to the soul." i stopped twilight's reading.

"you read that correct right." i said pulling the book down.

"what part." she asked.

"the part about there being no unicorns that could perform this practice of magic." i said.

"yes... do you think they all could have been like you." she asked.

"keep reading let's see." i said. she put the book back into her face and cleared her throat. she read on. "these ponies could only acquire magical ability from an outside source such as possession of demons... or a more drastic case involving binding the power of a philosophers stone to the soul of the caster."

"see possession of demons." i said.

"both possibilities are extremely difficult. binding a philosophers stone would require the an actual stone itself which is comprised of the souls of a million ponies. only two have ever existed in the world. it has the ability to drain the souls and create matter from nothing. this method is the most difficult but has been shown to prolong life and prove to be non fatal. " she stopped.

"what's wrong." i asked.

"well first of all i still am having a hard time believing what i'm hearing and second of all i remember reading about philosophers stones... they are an evil creation." she said shivering. she looked at me and frowned. "i swear if you ever show up at my doorstep beaten half to death and holding a philosophers stone that you 'found' in one of your adventures i'm going to break down and go insane." she said.

"i don't think that would ever happen." i said laughing. she started to giggle too. she looked over at the clock and it was about 4 in the morning.

"maybe we should stop now." she said.

"no..." i said playfully. "keep reading i want to hear the rest." i said.

"alright fine." she said she picked the book up and read. "the second method, possession of a demon, is the most dangerous of the two. the caster must not only summon a demon to him through non conventional methods but must have a strong soul. the demon will try to take over his soul and damn him for all time."

i looked back at the clock to make sure she was right about what time it was. it was a bit after 4. dash is probably a bit worried but it's not a big deal. she'll understand this. at least i'm not off in the woods again hunting treasure. i looked back at twilight and listened.

"if the subjects soul is stronger than the will of the demons then the demon will be fused to the soul of the subject and form on soul of two. the subjects soul would have direct control over the body and can now use the powers on the demon to perform magic. though most magic is based on the dark arts there are few who have trapped the spirits of misguided angels and used their holy power to smite their enemies."

how cool would it have been if an angel was trapped in my body. maybe he wouldn't be such an asshole. but i have to admit that i have grown fond of the shadows i use. they've become a part of me and i'm not going to lie, magic makes life so much easier.

"once imprisoned in the caster soul the demon cannot escape until the caster dies and their souls are separated. this only happens if the caster has been benevolent with his magic and is bound for heaven. if the caster is bound to hell the two souls will stay fused and burn in hell as one, thus damning the demon as well."

"how much more is there." i asked.

"theres quite a bit." said twilight.

"alright it's not like i have much to do." i said. she put her face back into the book and read on. i was getting tired but this was genuinely interesting to me. how could it not be given my..."condition" we'll call it. i want to know everything. and i was really tired and weak and that book looks quite heavy. i listened to twilight read.

"the practice of this magic was feared by all people. it did not only change the caster physically when using the magic but mental. the demon is able to break through and communicate with the caster. this requires a lot of energy and sends the caster into a pre meditative coma for a short time. and because of the physical connections to the brain it can cause other mental disorders such as depression, changing moods, hallucinations, schizophrenia, shortness of temper or even complete loss of all emotional responses to the brain."

"woah.." i said "twilight i haven't been acting... strange have i." i asked.

"don't worry you're not going crazy. though i have noticed that you can get a bit mad sometimes. and also a bit big headed but that might just be you." she said smiling.

"oh ha ha." i said laughing sarcastically. "well during that one week at the canterlot castle that i spent training my abilities i did suffer from mood swings for a few days. i must have been an ass and the princess still tolerated me. then one day towards my last i woke up and just didn't feel anything. i went the whole day without any emotions like some kind of zombie." i said.

"well at least we know now that it was normal.. and it seems that has passed so that's good." she said. she stuck her face back into the book but i said one more thing before she started reading.

"i don't have a short temper do i." i asked. "i mean sometimes i get mad but i have a reason to be mad." i said.

"well yeah... you don't have a short temper but it's shorter than what it was before."

"alright... keep reading i want to know everything the book does." twilight cleared her throat and looked back down at the book.

" this is problematic since the casters magic has a strong response to emotions and when the casters emotions change the magic will adapt to suit his needs. the magic responds to all emotions, anger, sadness, confusion, stress, fear, bravery, and even love. the casters have been known to use magic to enhance the pleasure of intercorse with a mate... which sometimes lead to undesirable consequences such as the demons genetic code mixing with the caster code and forming not just a physical child in the womb but a spiritual demon child as well... the demon child will grow in the shape of the physical child and at birth their two souls are joined and the child will grow up the the same abilities and powers." twilight stopped and looked at me.

"what." i asked.

"please tell me you didn't" she said.

"well...uh." i stammered as my face turned red. "uhh...yes, i did and we had a demon child..." i said.

"so thats what you were talking about when you came back from the dead.." she said putting the book down and scolding me. "what the hell how could you do that." she said.

"c'mon i didn't know that would happen. and i was just caught up in the moment you know. i decided to try it and it was amazing." i said.

"eww gross." she said making a disgusted look on her face.

"you're the one who asked." i said.

"just don't do it a second time." she said. i rubbed the back of my head and smiled awkwardly.

"well...uhm." i said. she stopped me from going any further.

"when." she asked. i hung my head down in embarrassment.

"during the honeymoon." i said.

"gross." she said.

"for about two hours." i said.

"DUDE." she said. "i didn't need to know that part." she said.

"at least i used that spermicide you gave me... and i've also learned how to use my magic to create an invisible force that stops the fertilization process. it's natural spermicide." i said.

"your a pig." she said.

"oh shut up... i never once heard dash complain about our sex... infact she loves it." i said.

"good for her now lets finish up this reading." she said. "theres only about one paragraph left."

"alright, read away." i said watching twilight's head dive into the book.

"this practice of magic by far triumphs over almost all practices except for the exception of interpreting the power of a god or titan which has only ever happened once in history. the use of this magic is based mainly around the use of battle. it is also known that each caster has a failsafe. the fail safe separates the casters soul from the one of the demons. this causes the demons soul to be destroyed but not the casters." twilight stopped and looked at me.

"i didn't know i could do that... but how is it a failsafe if the demons soul is destroyed i wouldn't have magic to defend myself."i said. she looked down and read on.

"this in turn creates a force of magical unrest that can only be known as the wrath of god. the separation causes all matter within a 1000 mile radius to be sucked into one sphere of infinite density. once complete the sphere will destruct and destroy everything within a 2000 mile radius. it doesn't simply explode but raptures all of space and time destroying all matter within the blast radius and sending a shockwave across the entire world. breaking the laws of space and time already the caster is erased from that point in time but returns in the future a few days after the blast to make sure he is protected."

i couldn't believe what i was hearing. how do they know this and who was the unfortunate bastard that tried this and had to walk 2000 miles to get to any kind of civilization. this was ridiculous but it sounded so awesome.

"only once had this happened before. the gods themselves had to make themselves present in order to fix the horrid tragedy that fell upon the land. may they help us again should another foolish soul try. nowhere is it written that two souls can be separated with that kind of bond. this is only possible because because the separation of the two souls is so strong it causes a chain reaction within all the magical energy of the world. the magic reacts to this imbalance and adapts to try and stop the two souls from separating." she stopped.

"is that it." i asked.

"no there's a little bit more." she said.

"are you alright." i asked.

"well no... i'm a bit scared." she said.

"of what" i asked.

"well... of you." she said.

"whay are you scared of me... because of that wrath of the gods thing... c'mon twilight there's no way i would ever bring myself to do that. besides it's not also something that could just happen by accident." i said. she read over the book again. "c'mon read the rest." i said. she took a deep breath and started reading.

"this incident however is not easily done. it requires great power and even greater concentration. it also requires the casters soul to be subsequently stronger with the demons. if it is not the demon will hold on and the souls will not separate. this is not as great as it seems. this failsafe causes the casters soul to be torn and broken. this results in the denial of entry to both heaven and hell and the souls i forced to walk the plains of purgatory for all of eternity. the tearing of the soul also causes, loss of memory, loss of emotion, and inability to reason logically, and psychological disorientation. the caster ultimately dooms himself to suffer." twilight stopped reading and closed the book.

"the end?" i asked.

"yeah the rest is just drawing and stuff." she said. she took a deep breath. "i'm having trouble coming to grip with what i just read."

"why... it's not like this stuff applies to you. i for one was actually very interested in hearing you read that... i feel more...at rest...now that i have a better understanding of what i am capable of... can i see that book." i said. she handed it to me and it was just as heavy as i thought it was. i opened it up and tried to find the page she just read from.

"i just feel a little uneasy knowing that you're so powerful you could destroy all matter within a 2000 mile radius in a single blast and survive barely. that kind of power in untold of... i've learned from science that matter could not be destroyed and the only thing proven to create matter from thin air is a philosophers stone." she said.

"yeah but most things in science are a theory and i guess when they did that experiment they didn't include enough factors." i said.

"i think there might be an up to date codex on this stuff. that one dates over hundreds of thousands of years ago when those practices still existed." she said. i kept flipping through the book while she check her bookshelves.

"hey what page is it on." i asked.

"563" she said. i had passed it. i flipped back to page five fifty three. i was about to start reading when there was a knock on the door. twilight walked over to the door and opened it. it was dash.

"is crimson here." she asked.

"yeah he's here." said twilight. she moved away and let dash look at me. she smiled and walked over and sat down next to me.

"what have you two been doing." she asked looking around at the scattered books. "you've been gone for three hours and i started to get worried."

"sorry babe we got caught up in a few things and now we're just reading some stuff about ponies that trapped demons in them and used their power like me." i said.

"oh that's neat... what did you learn" she asked.

"enough to give me nightmares about myself." i said. she laughed and gave me a peck on the cheek. "twilight already read this big block of text here." i said waving my hoof over the text. "but there are a few notes on the sides of these pictures lets read them." i said.

"alright." said dash. "read that one..." said dash pointing to a picture of some strange symbols. i started to read and twilight kept scouring the bookshelves.

"it is known that ponies entrapping a demon will learn all it knows and will often catch themselves speaking in evil tongues and reading forgotten languages." i said. i looked at the strange symbols. they seemed familiar like i've seen them somewhere even though i haven't. i don't know how but i lost control of my mouth and i started reading the words almost in like a trance and started speaking giberish.

"what are you doing." asked dash. twilight heard us and looked over she thought i was just fooling around. i read the words louder and a gust of wind blew one of the windows open and blew out all the candles. "crimson stop it." said dash. "you're scaring me."

"crimson what are you doing." said twilight trying to close the window but the gust was strong. my pupils started to dilate and grow larger as i read louder. the wind picked up and started blowing things around making a mess.

"CRIMSON STOP" said dash. she slapped me across the face and i stopped reading. i looked around now completely aware of what happened. the gust of wind stopped and the papers and other things flying around soon fell to the floor. "what the fuck were you doing." she said.

"i... i don't know... i just started reading the words written in that picture and just lost it." i said.

"how do you know the words in that picture." twilight said looking at the book. "that's a lost language... nopony can speak it."

"i guess this book was right about the speaking in tongues thing." i said. i hugged dash. "i'm sorry babe. and thanks for slapping me before things got worse." i said.

"alright... just be careful." she said.

"yeah if you see strange symbols look away from them." said twilight. i just smiled and gave dash a kiss. i didn't read all of the text there i read the rest.

"there is an ancient demon tongue that the demons used regularly. if the casters souls is not strong enough the demon can take control of the caster mind long enough to speak of these evil chants. no translation is known but whenever one is chanted the only thing to come from it was pain." i read.

"is that what you were speaking in." asked dash. "demon."

"i don't know." i said. i looked over and saw another sort line next to the picture. "ancient demon chant that summoned large storms capable of lifting entire castles off the ground." i said. "oh my god"

"what the hell." said twilight confused. dash slapped me again.

"what was that for." i asked rubbing my cheek. that really hurt. when you're a pony slaps are really just punches because we have hooves.

"that's for the fact that you almost could have killed us." said dash.

"i'm sorry." i said again.

"maybe you should put that book away." said twilight.

"don't worry it's fine twi... if i start acting weird i give you full permission to beat me down until i stop." i said rolling my eyes.

"alright... but be careful." she said. i just waved my hoof and looked back at the book there was another side note next to a picture of a sword covered in smoke. i shouldn't really say pictured but they were more like realistic drawings. i read the caption.

" a caster with a demon joined to his soul has many more perks than that of one with a philosophers stone. perks such as: ability to copy items and even ponies from shadows." knew it. "ability to disappear in the presence of shadows" been there done that. "from one shadow the caster can transmute himself instantly to any place covered in shadows that are also touching the original shadow" i said. knew that too.

"these are all things you can already do." said dash.

"hold up there's still more." i said. "for self defense purposes the caster can change his form into a type of 3 dimensional shadow which can pass through any surface and cannot be attacked. the caster cannot attack however because this requires all of his concentration." i stopped.

"that's something new." said dash. she was laying her head down on my lap while i read. she looked up at me. "hey... twilight didn't even heal you." she said.

"yeah i know but we got preoccupied." i said.

"did she even bother to look at you leg." said dash.

"i wish i didn't" twilight said from the other side of the room. she had moved on to a different bookcase.

"and you didn't even fix it." she said looking at my busted up leg. "what the hell."

"sorry dash but unfortunately it can't be healed with magic because it broke his flow of magic." said twilight.

"what does that have to do with anything." asked dash. i spoke up and replied.

"well our two magic energies would mix and that would create a lot of other problems." i said. "so i'm just going to have to let it heal on it's own... it won't heal fully though and my leg will be deformed." i said. dash sat up and hugged me.

"oh baby i'm so sorry." she said. "i wish i could help."

"it's fine dash." i said. i looked down at me leg and noticed that the bleeding had stopped significantly. but there were a few spots deep down that were still leaking blood. i probably should be concerned but i create blood 20 times faster than normal ponies, so i'm probably fine.

"at least it looks like it got better." said dash. i laughed softly and looked back at the book and the list of perks.

"when using shadows for weapons. the weapons will actually grow sharper and more dangerous with every cut or stab. this will carry on to the next fight as well and will keep carrying on until the caster has died."

"thats great." said twilight. "everytime you kill something you get stronger." she rolled her eyes and i laughed i went back to the list.

" if the casters are strong enough they can use the darkness inside of ponies. this allows them to not only take full control of the pony but allows them to control their emotions, read their minds, erase memories and implant false ones in them. they can also shut down vital organs or even stop the flow of blood. and if the caster is in a really bad mood they can cause the pony to feel incredible pain without being touched."

"i'm not sure i like these anymore..." said dash. "it's starting to scare me." she said.

"yeah crimson maybe you should stop." said twilight.

"oh calm down... this isn't going to turn me into some kind of evil monster." i said. "besides there's one more left and then there's one last side note." i said.

"alright fine just... just read it." she said.

"the olfactory senses of the caster are changed to help in battle and other situations. sight is heightened to be greater than that of a hawk and the caster can also see in the dark as well. sense of smell is that of a wolf. taste is heightened so the caster can detect things like poison. the caster can hear anything within 5 miles perfectly. and the caster is also gifted with an incredibly high tolerance for pain and heightened other feelings of pleasure so they become more pleasurable." i read.

"is that it." said dash. "i'm getting tired."

"not yet there's one more." i said.

"ah there it is." twilight said pulling a book off the shelf. she walked over and sat down. "this book should be up to date on this kind of stuff... so you read that last thing while i find the right page." she said. i looked down at the book and started reading.

"the caster has an ability to gain power and heal himself quickly but the process is completely evil at nature and is the ultimate punishment for any enemy." i read.

"i don't think i like where this is going." said dash squeezing me tighter.

"i'm sure it's fine." i said. i kept reading. "the caster has the ability to rip the very soul from other beings and devour them mercilessly. the process causes the victim pain so great there is yet to be a comparison. the souls is then devoured by the soul of the demon for they are the only soul capable of devouring souls. this will then give the caster a permanent boost to power and also heal the greatest of wounds. the caster may also later if he should die. he can offer this soul to death in exchange for his. that boost of power will be lost. a caster evil enough to absorb many souls would then be able to ensure the only way he dies is when his body is nothing but ash... an unforgivable path to immortality."

i had no idea that i could do that. i was scared. not because i was finding this out for the first time but because some part of me wanted to try this. i don't think i could ever do that even to somepony i really hated. i don't think i could just rip their soul from their body and use it as a free pass from death. i read the rest of it.

" but in order to exchange a soul for another chance at life the soul being exchanged must be as of the same species or a greater one. the strength of the victims soul doesn't matter to the victim but the stronger the soul the more power the caster will get. if the caster grows feeble and old he can also contact death and exchange souls to regain his youth... this is truly the darkest quality of the possesed caster and there are no magics that can copy this kind of ability. and history knows ponies have tried." that was it.

next to the side note was a picture. it was of a pony in robes. he had his black eyes glowing and the shadows raised around him. next to him was a pale body being drained of it's soul. the soul was just a wave of energy being sucked in through the casters mouth. there was a little caption under it.

" dharmahken the gluttonous lived to be 5000 years old by stealing the souls of hundreds of his enemies. he died when he was thrown into a mountain and died in the lava. returning back would be useless since his body was no more." that was it. i looked up at twilight and dash. the expression on their faces was incomparable.

"crimson...you." said twilight but i stopped her right there completely aware of where she was going.

"twilight i promise you i would never do such an evil thing." i said. she didn't say anything.

"sweet celestia... a pony could be the ultimate warrior." said dash. "they could steal the soul of any pony they wanted to and then become immortal... they could even steal the soul of the princess." she said.

"don't say that kind of stuff." i said. "twilight why don't you read something from that book... maybe there's something on a lighter side." i said trying to lighten up the mood.

"alright then." she said. " with the realization that achieving power through the use of a philosophers stone was practically impossible ponies turned to demonic possession. only 2 out of 100 ponies that tried it survived. some used their powers for evil and were quickly wiped out. others used their powers for good but were hated for playing with shadows." she read.

it definitely was on the lighter side. but i still couldn't stop thinking about what i just read. i could start to see myself with my mouth agape and the soul of another pony being sucked down my throat. i would laugh evilly and turn into some kind of evil monster with horns and bat wings. i need to get my mind off that. i listened to twilight read.

"this practice of magic had grown unstable and dangerous. as news spread across the world all provinces recognized this as a problem and made illegal the summoning of demons. the punishment was death on sight of demon contact and also death for being accused of consorting with demons on your own power." she kept reading.

"i never knew that was a law." i said.

"there are a lot of laws in equestria like that." said dash. "like raising the dead or using magic to make other ponies do what you say. most aren't punishable by death but sorting with demons is a death sentence... you only survived because you didn't summon it. it was haunting you."

"well i did figure there would be magic laws to make sure the unicorns don't go mad with power and start killing people." i said.

"i have never once thought myself better because i use my magic." said twilight.

"first of all you're lying and i can tell. your aura is glowing a deep red and i put myself above some ponies but don't take advantage of it and destroy them." i said.

"can i continue." said twilight.

"yeah go." i said. she cleared her throat. and read.

"the last know shadowcaster which is the term given to the ponies in control over the power of a demon died over 1 and a half million years ago. his name was veremas the everstanding . he used his magical abilities for good and achieved his title by never having fallen slightly in battle no matter the opponent." twilight read.

i liked the sound of the veremas guy. somepony who fights all the time and hasn't fallen slightly deserves a title like that. it made me start to think about what kind of title i would have if i was awarded one. not being very creative i couldn't think of one so i returned my attention to twilight.

"because of the laws against demonic summoning in every province there have been no recorded sightings of another shadow caster. until now." she read.

"wait what do you mean until now." i asked. "when was that published."

"it was published a year ago but the books have an enchantment on them were they update it magically every day. so it's different every day you open it.

"so does that mean..." dash said not finishing her sentence. i looked at her and she at me. twilight started reading again.

"a new shadowmancer has arisen in the province of equestria. this colt goes by the name of crimson blast. he made his public appearance on march march 15 in the town of ponyville just over two weeks after they celebrated winter wrap up. he acquired the spirit of a demon through an exorcism and is a legal shadowmancer since he has not summoned the demon but failed to rid himself of it. the exorcism took place at castle canterlot along with the help of princess celestia. he stayed for a week and adapted to his body and returning."

"i don't believe this it's you." said dash. i couldn't believe it either.

"he publicly demonstrated his control over the art of shadows while defending the town from a rampaging dragon. since then he has gradually proven himself to be a hero instead of just another wicked and twisted pony changed by the demons they conjured. on may 27th after have fled equestria due to problems including the princess and the kidnapping of her sister he was accused of false crimes and fled. he resided in the city of indigo city. located in the white lands just south of equestria. he stayed there for two months before returning to equestria to see it being harassed by an ancient evil known as discord, the lord of chaos."

there was no doubting it now that was me they were talking about. how did ponies like this ever hear about me. i didn't think ponies even knew me outside of ponyville except for the princess and my two old friends back in indigo city. i guess this shadow mancery stuff was a big deal.

" he alone gathered the elements of harmony and their bearers. he fought off the evil discord on his own power with nothing but his power and a sword made from shadows. he held him off so the six elemental bearers could get a clear shot. after almost sacrificing his life by taking a direct hit from the elements he was launched across ponyville and then immediately hospitalized. after some time passed and he recovered he attended the award ceremony honoring the bravery of the seven ponies who stopped discord. during the ceremony he publicly announced his love to a mare by the name of rainbow dash." twilight said.

"that's me." said rainbow smiling. i smiled back and kissed her. "sorry twilight keep going please."

" he then proposed to her in front of all of canterlot and the princess. soon that same day rainbow dash gave birth to their child. the couple happily returned home with their baby daughter and returned to crimsons adopted daughter who he adopted before the discord incident. two a month later crimson and dash were happily married in canterlot. the marriage rites were sited by the princess herself which is a great honor. after the wedding the took a chariot to their honeymoon sweet in manehattan for a week." twilight stopped.

"getting tired." i said.

"yeah do you wanna read." she said.

"sure." i said. she handed me the book.

"i stopped here." she said pointing her hoof to the top of a paragraph. i cleared my throat and got ready to read.

"after returning from their honeymoon crimson and rainbow dash decided to settle down, but a few days later crimson was caught in a horrible accident involving one of his friends pouring a mixture of potions into a bucket in a harmless prank. the mixture was ingested by crimson and he dropped stone cold. at the hospital he was diagnosed as being on the verge of death. two days later he died but the princess insisted to keep his body in the hospital for at least a week. three days later crimson had returned to life. without having devoured the sols of any ponies or beasts he could not have traded with the devil. his return is a miracle indeed. he resides currently still in ponyville adventuring with his friend that killed him. him and his friend have recently unearth an ancient dragon worshiping palace. they went in and slayed the evil within the catacombs and reaped its rewards. one artifact that they found was the mask of a dragon priest. being the only one in equestria it was invaluable. crimson and his friend met the princess the next day and were rewarded handsomely. he now resides in ponyville laying back in luxury... more is still to come." it said at the end.

"wow they know everything about you." said twilight.

"thats kinda scary." said dash. "who are these ponies."

"it's the equestrian almanac. it has everything in it that's worth having in it." said twilight. "i can't wait until they somehow get their hands on the story of the big adventure you just went on.

"theres still more." i said.

"really is it about today." twilight asked.

"uhm no it just says general summary." i said reading the title above the paragraph

"oh that's what they think of you... read it their opinion is actually quite cherished in equestria." said twilight. i read the small paragraph.

"little is truly known about crimson blast... he arrived into equestria just over a year ago from an undisclosed location. and in one year he has made quite the name for himself. same can be said about his friend who suddenly appeared in ponyville only about 2 weeks ago and is now living the rich life. they both claim to be from outside of equestria and also claim to have done military service there. no information has been found about a date of birth, age, family, or even date of arrival to equestria. whoever this pony really is he definitely has a few secrets to his name. the equestrian almanac is very pleased." i read that was it.

"well at least their pleased." said twilight.

"who the hell are these ponies... they know way too much than they should. whatever they're doing to get this info can't be legal." i said.

"calm down so they know a few things." said dash. "the last paragraph made you sound all deep and mysterious." she said. i smiled.

"alright i guess i should calm down." i said. i stood up and cringed when i stepped on my bad leg. it didn't hurt as much because the ligaments in my leg are connected again but it still burned like hell.

"oh yes the reason you came here." said twilight. "i almost forgot getting caught up in all the excitement."

"me too." i said.

"i have some magical wraps upstairs that you can use. it speeds up the natural healing process." she said.

"i thought you couldn't use magic to heal a wound like this." i said.

"you can't use direct magic." she said. "when a unicorn puts and enchantment on something they simply pull any surrounding magical aura to the item and changes them giving them magical properties. the magic is natural magic and is completely harmless." she said. she ran upstairs and disappeared behind a corner. dash wrapped her hooves around my neck and leaned against me. she let out a deep sigh.

"what's wrong baby." i said.

"nothing just... trying to adjust to all the information i heard tonight." she said.

"you missed when twilight read. apparently i have a built in failsafe that can destroy all matter within a 2000 mile radius." i said smiling. she just let out another deep sigh.

"great... just what the world needed a living bomb." she said. i hugged and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"hey... don't think any less of me or think i'm a monster because of that. i would never blow up and destroy everything." i said.

"i know you wouldn't do that...it's the thing about eating other ponies souls that freaks me out." she said.

"i would never do that either. i'd rather die than commit such a wrongful act." i said.

"i know that too i'm just a bit paranoid... the book made it seem like it was such a great thing. consume a soul get more powerful and live forever... that sounds great to me." she said.

"but i don't want to live forever." i said. "because at some point i'd have to live forever without you... and i couldn't do that."

"thanks baby." she said giving me a kiss too. i looked up and saw twilight walking down the stairs. she was holding a long cloth. she brought it over to us.

"here wrap this around that leg." she said handing it to me. i sat down and started wrapping my leg. i finished wrapping and i kept it closed with a safety pin. the wraps glowed a golden yellow and i could feel a warm feeling wash over my leg. it dulled the pain until there was only warmth. that felt amazing.

"oh my god that's the shit." i said. "it already feels better."

"it was a gift from my parents when i moved to ponyville. they told me to use if i ever get scuffed up. i've used it multiple times before and i usually healed my wounds in a few minutes to a few hours." she said. "however my wounds weren't as great as yours." she said.

"thanks twi... i'll return it when i get better but right now i'm tired and its already..." i stopped to check the clock. "holy shit it 7" i said. i looked outside and there was some sunlight. "damn i'm tired." i said.

"me too." said dash yawning.

"alright why don't you guys head home and get some rest." said twilight. "then you should probably go and kick thunder rush's ass for leaving you in the woods." she said.

"that sounds like a wonderful plan." i said. i turned and walked out of twilight's house with dash. we said our goodbyes and left to my house.

i had completely forgotten about derek and roseluck. they still have that crazy elf with them... i wonder what they're doing with him... oh well i'll figure that later.

after a while a walking... and limping we got back to my house. scootaloo's door was wide open and she was gone. probably out playing with her friends. i looked into baby dawns room and she was still sleeping. me and dash walked upstairs and we laid down in bed. i pulled the covers over us and she hugged me.

i hugged back and started to doze off. i started to think too. i thought about all the things i learned about myself today. one thing in particular. i found it rather disturbing that i could use my powers to thrive off of the souls of other ponies and animals. i could heal myself, become more powerful with every soul and even become immortal.

i don't think i could do that. the part where the book said it was so painful that there is literally no comparison to it's pain. that was the scariest part. i don't think i could stand there and suck the soul out of a pony and benefit from it while they screamed in agony.

****but part of me wanted to.


	49. Chapter 49: Ultimate Evil

i woke up a few hours earlier around twelve. i got up and stretch. i got up and walked to the door... wait, something's different. i didn't have any pain in my leg. i got a bit excited. i walked to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet and unwrapped my leg. i still was shocked by the way it looked.

it looked horrible and disfigured. there were gaps of missing flesh and you could see my muscles moving through my skin and the ligament twilight healed to. it wasn't bleeding though. the holes and slashes were smoothed off and we're a little pinkish. my fur had already grown back but my fur is short so it didn't help at all to cover it up. i turned it around.

shockingly you could still see the bone. being as curious as i was i started poking the bone with my hoof. it didn't hurt and the gaping slash in the bone was gone. it was all smooth and you could see the muscle connects to the bone and cover it up. the only thing this did was stop the bleeding. it looks horrible. maybe i should keep the wrap on a bit longer.

i re wrapped my leg and it glowed again. but this time there was no warmth. that was a bit concerning. the whole time i was injured before the wrap was giving off a soothing heat but it's not now. i think it's done healing... CRAP.

this was as good as it's going to get and it's not even good. might as well give this back to twilight. it's gonna suck walking around with my leg like this. especially the side showing my bone in several places was the side all the ponies were going to see. might as well suck it up.

i walked into the bedroom and dash was just getting up.

"hey baby." i said.

"hey... how's your leg." she asked.

"it's... ehh...complicated." i said.

"what do you mean complicated." she said. i stuck my leg out for her to see and used my shadows to open up the curtains and let the afternoon light it. the second the light hit my leg and she saw it she jumped back. "holy shit..." she said. "i think you need to put the wraps back on"

"they're all done healing. this is as good as it's going to get." i said. she crawled over and looked at it. she cringed.

"but nothings changed." she said. "it's just not bleeding."

"yeah i'm going to have to kick twilight's ass too." i said.

"your heading out." she asked.

"yeah..."i said stretching my arms. "i have asses to kick." i said walking to the door. dash giggled and i walked. out i walked down the stairs and into the living room. i packed my bags and put them on. i got a drink and headed out. i walked down the path to my house and into the crowded ponyville street.

some ponies looked at me and immediately noticed my leg. some almost threw up, (two did) and others just stared or looked away. i'd figure out a way to fix this eventually. might take some time but i can fix anything with time.

eventually i got to twilight's house and knocked on the door. the door swung open and twilight stood in front of me. she smiled and i just looked at her.

"come on in." she said turning around and walking forward. i followed her. "i see you're walking fine... hows the leg, is it better." she asked.

"no." i said. "and the wraps have finished healing it." i said grabbing the magical wraps from my bag and tossing them on a nearby table.

"well what's wrong." she said. i turned to the side and showed her. her cheeks expanded and her face flushed green. she ran into the kitchen and threw up in the sink.

"i thought you were over that." i said.

"sorry i just." she stopped to throw up again. "ugh... i forgot how disgusting it was." she said.

"just like the others who threw up, stared and ran away." i said. she walked back in and looked at my leg. she knelt down to see it. "it just closed up the wounds and stopped the bleeding."

"does it hurt." she asked.

"nope..." i said. i started jumping around and kicked the door. "it just feels like regular tissue... there's no pain but no numbness either. it's like it's supposed to be like this." i said. i looked back down at my leg. the bits of skin that actually made it did a good job of webbing out and holding it all together.

"oh celestia it shouldn't be that disfigured." she said. i lifted my leg up slowly and you could see the muscles relaxing and contrasting.

"your smart." i said. "explain this."

"well it seems like you're cells divide rapidly and started developing keratin like the regular skin cells. basically you have a layer of skin over all the exposed tissue." she said.

"and explain the bone." i said.

"if i had to guess i'd say that it developed an exoskeletal layer around it. like on a unicorn's horn. "she said tapping her horn "this will keep it safe and stop the pain from viruses and physical contact. it should also be stranger and less likely to break."

i let out a loud sigh and paced around the room for a minute. i looked around and back at twilight. this was definitely going to be a problem but i didn't have time for this.

"alright... i don't have time to worry about this... i have someplace important to be." i said i walked to the door and opened it. "but i will be back." i said and i flew off into the air. i flew up and across ponyville. eventually i made it to my old neighborhood and touched down at lilies house. i knocked on the door and it swung open to reveal derek.

"hey dude come in." he said. i walked in and he closed the door. "how come you left to go right home after we got out of the woods. i wanted to tell you something." he said.

"shut it thunder." i said sounding irritated. he was about to speak but i did first. "first of all i didn't leave once we got out of the woods. you guys left me behind in the woods. i was alone in the dark cold woods, badly injured and carrying a 500 pound chest. it took me 2 hours to limp out of the forest and another to get back home." i said.

"dude i'm sorry but you were quiet the entire trip... we didn't want to bother you." he said. "what was keeping you behind." he said. i stuck out my disfigured back leg and he got a look at it. he was like twilight he puked in his mouth then ran into the kitchen and puked in the sink. i rolled my eyes.

"oh god no... that's horrid... oh god you could even see through to the bone... oh oh god." he said puking again into the sink. i heard footsteps walking down the stairs. i turned around to see roseluck walking down the stairs.

" oh hey crimson. what's wrong with thunder." she asked peering into the kitchen.

"nothing much i just got here and yelled at him about how you guys left me behind in the cold and dark woods lugging a 5 ton chest with a mangled leg." i said with much sarcasm. "how are you."

"theres no need for the attitude." she said.

"oh there is much need for attitude." i said. "infact i can't think of a reason to not have an attitude... i've been through quite a bit so an apology would be appreciated." i said.

"alright...you're right." she said. "i'm sorry we left you behind... we weren't paying attention and you were so quiet the entire trip i just thought you were thinking. and when we got to to main road i thought you had just flown right home... i'm sorry." she said.

"that's alright i forgive you... but i did promise two ponies that i would kick thunder's ass... with my good leg that is."

"what happened to your leg." she asked.

"how quickly could you get to the bathroom from here." i asked.

"i don't know... why." she asked with a strange look on her face. i turned to the right and showed her my leg. her eyes shrunk and she started backing away like it was going to bite her or something. "oh...oh oh no... i... i'm going to be sick..." i saw her cheeks puff out and she ran up the stairs. i could hear her throw up. i don't think she was fast enough.

i walked into the kitchen with derek. he still had his head hanging over the sink which was stained with puke.

"dude have a stomach." i said.

"at least drudge wasn't here puking his guts up." he said. i laughed.

"yeah he'd probably be tagging the walls with chuke." i said laughing a bit. drudge was one of our squadmates. the only way to describe him was big and black... that's it. he was the demolitions expert and probably the funniest guy i've ever met. he has a real big heart under all of that C4 and kevlar.

"oh god... what happened to you leg." he said still with his head in the sink."

"when i got eaten the hydra bit down on it and started to chew on it... then i fell into it's stomach and burned it with digestive acid." i said.

"oh god... it looks so... so..." he didn't finish. he just threw up again in the sink. "oh god. get that thing fixed." he said.

"it is fixed." i said. "the wounds closed and now it's deformed."

"but...but it cut's right through to the bone." he said. he picked his head up and looked back down at my leg. i decided to freak him out by flexing it so could see the muscle flex and relax through the gaps of skin. "oh god... i can even see the ligament." he said throwing up into the sink. "cover that thing up...PLEASE" he said throwing up again.

"nope i'm going to keep it out and freak you out as punishment... oh and one more thing." i said.

"what." he said. i smiled and spun around. i kicked out my good leg and it hit him right in the flank. the kick pushed him forward and his face went right into the sink. "dude the fuck was that for... oh god." he said. he picked his head up and it was covered in his puke. i burst out laughing.

"sorry but i promised twilight and rainbow dash that i'd kick your ass." i said still laughing. he grabbed a washcloth and cleaned his face. he turned the sink on and cleaned it too.

"your an asshole." he said.

"yeah i'll remember that the next time i'm stuck in the woods carrying 5 tons of rock on a dark and cold windy night trailing blood my my more than fucked up leg." i said.

"alright alright." he said rolling his eyes. "you got your point across, but bitching about it now won't fix what happened." he said.

"yeah but it helps." i said. i walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. i took a seat and derek walked in and took a seat next to me. i set my bad leg up on the coffee table.

"dude not on the table." he said.

"don't worry. the way it healed made it like that all the exposed tissue the muscle, cartilage, even the bone developed a protective layer." i said

"like... skin." he said.

"yeah but it won't grow hair or whatever and it still functions as it should. but the bone developed a sort of exoskeleton."

"dude that's fucked up." he said. i heard footsteps walking down the stairs. it was roseluck. she had a green face and puke around her mouth. she looked horrible.

"i...uh...i didn't make it to the bathroom... we might need to do some cleaning later." she said. i silently laughed. she walked over and sat down. she looked up at my foot. "that thing is disgusting." she said.

"hey at least i still have it." i said. "i don't know why everypony is bitching about this... it's my fucking leg... how do you think i feel, i should be the one bitching about this... i didn't even puke but everypony else did." i said.

"how can you even stand on that... i'm pretty sure you're missing some muscles and... skin." said derek. "it's sick. just put bandages over it... forever." he said. i chuckled again.

"that ruins the fun." i said. "besides i like to show my scars." i said.

"that isn't a scar it's a deformity." said roseluck. she was rubbing her head and cleaning the sides of her mouth with a cloth.

"oh by the way what did you guys do with the elf." i asked. they were silent. they blushed and looked away. "he got away didn't he."

"well... uhm... yes." said derek. i was getting a headache. i rested my forehead on my hoof and sighed.

"i wrapped chains around him and a steel sword around his hands." i said. i looked back up at them. "this guy must have done some seriously crazy shit to get out of there." i said.

"well we got him here alright and we put him in the basement" said derek "then when we checked on him this morning he was just gone."

"he was just...gone...thats it." i said.

"i know it sounds sketchy but don't get a short temper." he said.

"i don't have a short temper, i just have a quick reaction to bullshit..." i said leaning in. "now tell me what really happened." i said.

"i did... he's gone... the simple fact that he's just not there anymore... nothing else." said derek.

"are you sure he's not just hiding down there." i said.

"how could he there is literally nothing in the basement downstairs... literally nothing." said derek.

"c'mon we'll even show you." said roseluck. she got up and walked over to a door by the stairs. i followed her. she opened the door and invited me to got first. i walked down the steps and looked down. it was dark.

"i can't see anything. you sure he's not down there." i said. no response. "guys." i said turning around. you can only imagine how shocked i was to see the fryingpan inches from my face. roseluck hit me across the face with a skillet and i fell down the stairs. "grrr. you bitch." i said. i went to run up the stairs but something grabbed my good leg.

the lights flickered on and i could see the basement. it was empty like they said. still doesn't explain why i was hit across the face with a skillet and why i'm down here. i slowly started to collect shadows under me. they crawled up my body and hardened into my armour and cape. i looked around and saw the elf standing in the corner with the sword i gave derek.

"you did this." i said to him.

"so observant." he said. "my plan to get to you worked quite well if i do say so myself."

"what plan." i asked.

"well my plan to get you to take me out of the castle... see it's a long story but hundreds of years ago i was banished to that accursed place. i was bound to it i could not leave on my own power but somepony with great power and strength could. that's why i built the dungeon and created a reward to attract adventurers like you." he said twirling the sword.

"why did my friend just hit me in the face with a skillet." i said.

"oh because i told her to. you see i'm gifted in the use of psychological magic. i was banished because i tried to take over the elven kingdom using a large transmitter to transmit a mind controlling spell over the land... it malfunctioned and i was overwhelmed by guards... the rest is history." he said.

"you're going to release my friend right now... and then i might not make you swallow that tongue of yours."

"ah such enthusiasm and passion... shadowmancer." he said. my snarled and showed my fangs. "ah yes there hasn't been a shadowmancer in a great deal of time... i think of it as an honor."

"i'll kill you." i said.

"that's what you said before but before you couldn't kill a helpless loser who clearly didn't know what he was doing. that was my favorite part. tricking you into thinking i was some weak defenseless fool."

i could hear a strange noise like static. it was in the back of my head and it grew louder and then cleared. i heard laughing in my head. it was the elfs laughing. he was talking to me telepathicaly.

"now sucome to my will... kneel." he whispered into my head. i felt like i had to kneel but i resisted it. i found a few shadows at him and the static stopped. he needed to stop concentrating and dodge. i looked down to see my foot was being held down by...glue? how did that even work. who cares. i quickly lifted my foot up. the glue didn't break but the skin on the bottom of my hoof ripped of. i clenched my teeth in pain.

i looked around to see the elf over by the stairs. he had an evil smile on his face. he was still swirling dereks sword. he was going to get it. though i have to give him credit for the plan he mustered up... it sounded impressive. i lashed a few shadows at him and he dodged them again. he was fast.

"now now... lets not hog all the fun." he said jumping around the room. i saw that derek and roseluck were walking down now. they looked like mindless zombies. "i believe you're friends want to play." he said. derek ran at me with a kitchen knife in his teeth. i put up a shield of shadows and blocked all the attacks he made.

"derek it's me... snap out of it." i said.

"i know i hate to see them like this... i like it better when they have personality." said the elf. roseluck ran over with the frying pan and also started hitting the shield. they weren't very... expressive with their attacks.

"you need to learn how to control better fighters." i said. i lashed out a few shadows and they wrapped around rose and thunder. it sent them into the wall and it hooked into the foundation. they were trapped. they struggled a bit and then stopped.

"well you can't blame me... it's a start soon all of ponyville will be like this... maybe even equestria." he started laughing to himself "you ponies are so weak and fragile." he said. too bad i'm not a pony at heart. i lashed out a shadow from under him and he didn't react quick enough. it cut him up his side and pierced the ceiling.

"oh..." i said. "did i do that." i said smiling.

"i may not know as much about shadowmancer's as some other ponies do but i know you're still just a pony... and i will crush you. he said.

"oh i'm sorry is that the sound of confidence running low... need a moral boost... fuck you." i said raising several tentacles in the air. he clapped his hands together and made some kind of invisible blast at the moment i lashed my shadows out at him. the blast sent me through the ceiling and then the roof of the basement. i was launched into the air and then landed on the ground with an 'oof'.

i got up and shaked myself off. i guess this fight was going to be public now... great. i saw from the corner of my eye the elf fall from the sky and land gently on his feet. he still had dereks sword. he ran at me and we fought.

we clashed blades for what seemed like 30 minutes. it had already reached all around ponyville and citizens came to see. i slashed my shadows at him and he blocked. he quickly flipped his sword and slashed me across the chest. it was a small cut. he went to attack again but somepony talked him. it was dash.

"DASH GET OUT OF HER." i said running over. she didn't even say anything before the elf grabbed her head and her eyes shrunk. she went into a kind of trance and turned to me.

"get him." said the elf. dash charged at me. i moved and she tripped i used my shadows to trap her to the ground and lashed some others out at the elf. we fought for a bit longer eventually we started making our way down the street. we jumped across building and threw each other into carts. it was an equal fight.

he roared and swung his sword at me. i blocked it and he tried to push through. we were at a stalemate. i could feel my energy rising and the symbols on my body glowing bright. i heard a voice in the back of my head. it wasn't the elf. it was my demon.

"do it... you know you can... you know you want to... think of the power you could gain... do it." he said. he kept repeating those phrases in my head. i knew what he was talking about. i don't think i could, yet some part of me still want's to.

i eventually pushed my way out of the stalemate and lashed a few more shadows. he dodged them and lashed at me again. i blocked and fired a single shadow arrow into his leg. he yelled in pain and i smiled. he was getting angrier.

n a great show of dexterity the elf spun around and jumped around me dealing multiple blows to my body. i yelped in pain with every slash. i tried to block as many as i could but he was faster than me. i roared and sent out a wave of energy trying to push him back. he flew into a cart but quickly got back up and ran at me.

he ran back over and jumped over me. he swung his sword and it cut deep into my back. i yelled in pain and lashed a few more shadows. he dashed at me again and stabbed me on the right side and it pierced all the way to the left. i yelled in pain again and he jumped in front of me.

he started to lash at me wildly. a lot of strikes came close but all were blocked and dodged. he did manage to get one slash in and cut across my neck. he cut my jugular. i fell to my knees and put my hoof to my neck trying to keep the blood in. i heard the demon again.

"do it now... you fool... he will kill you... it's your only hope... feed me." he said. i didn't want to with all my heart but my temptation got the best of me. i hope that god, my friends and family can forgive me for this ultimate act of evil. i looked at my enemy.

instead of glowing black like i usually do my eyes and symbols turned a soulless black which literally sucked away all the light around me. tentacles started springing up from the ground around me. i slowly got up and stared at him. my body changed and sharp spike shot out from my shoulders and back and face. it was like a small beard of spikes.

i could feel the demon side of me slowly taking over and i smiled against my own will. the elf just watched. a few tentacles escaped from my back and stood me up. i spread out my wings which were as dark and cloudy as the night sky.

about 20 tentacles broke through the ground beneath the elf and slowly wrapped around him. he chopped at them as long as he could with his only free hand but it soon was wrapped in shadows. they lifted him over to me and he struggled.

i stared at him and my eyes went from soulless and black to bright white. i watched as he too started glowing a bright white. i can't believe i was doing this. i knew i was going to regret this decision but at least he was an enemy right.

"what are you doing... release me, you're pathetic attempt to scare me won't work." he said struggling. i low hissing sound escaped my mouth and then a load roar. i could see the light around him start to shake and pull towards me. there was a harsh wind and it seemed to blow right at me which helped pull the light from his body.

there was a low but very loud rumbling sound. there wasn't a quake or anything just a rumbling sound. i watched as small bits of light flew from him and were absorbed into my body. i watched as my wounds started to heal.

"what are you...no... aaaahhhh...stop no." he said. the light around him was now being pulled to me. large rips of light flew from him over to me. soon they picked up into a steady stream and i opened my mouth showing my fangs. the stream of energy flew right into my mouth and into me. i could feel myself getting stronger.

the elf continued to yell and scream and beg. the book didn't lie that sounded like it was the most painful thing in the world. i almost felt sorry for him. not being able to swallow his soul at the rat it came to me the small bits of light started circling around me and gradually clinged onto my body and were absorbed through my skin.

he continued to yell and scream. i even saw tears running from his face. this must be worse than burning in hell which i deserve to do for this. the light surrounding him was very dim now. after a few seconds i pulled the last bit of light from his body. his eyes rolled back into his head and his skin went all pale and he fell limp. the tentacles dropped his lifeless body to the ground. i consumed the last bit of his soul and then glowed brightly.

the bright light was soon covered by a swirl of shadows and then everything was completely black. i recovered from whatever strange trance i was in at the time and hung my head in shame and regret. i gently floated to the ground and landed next to the lifeless corpse of the elf.

i looked at myself. i was completely healed, even my bad leg was back to normal. my muscle mass increased. and i was taller now. noticeable taller. my hair was the same height but looked short since i was taller. that book really did know what it was talking about.

i looked up to see the ponies who stared in shock and cowered in fear. i saw their looks. that was the look of true fear. the fear that they too could easily suffer the same fate. it was done i had performed the ultimate act of evil. i consumed a ponies soul. i felt so much better physically but i regretted it dearly.

i looked around and saw rainbow dash. she wasn't in the trance anymore and i must have broken the shadows keeping her restrained. she had a few tears in her eyes. they weren't tears of sadness but disappointment. i knew that she could never regret what i have done. i looked at her and she spoke softly.

"how could you..." she said. she walked up to me. i was at least 2 inches taller now from a random guess. "how could you" she said standing up to me. i couldn't argue with her. i don't know how i could either.

"i'm sorry dash... i've failed... i'm supposed to be the hero and i just did... that." i said hanging my head down. "i can understand if you may hate me or if you're disappointed in me... so i'll go." i said. i started walking past her.

she didn't look back to say goodbye she just silently cried there. as i slowly walked forward the onlooking ponies stared at me and moved out of my way. i slowly walked through the streets and over to roselucks house. i walked in and grabbed my bags then left. i kept walking until i came across a path through the everfree forest. i looked back. most of my friends followed me from far away to see where i was going.

all of them except rainbow. i looked back at them and they just stared at me. they all had the same look on their face. it was the same look you get when you wonder why something had to happen. the look of sadness and denial and fear. there's no other look like it. i turned away and walked into the woods. i didn't know what i was doing but obviously i was not welcomed in ponyville. who would have thought even though it was my enemy ponies would react like this. can't really blame them though. i turned to leave but i was stopped by a voice.

"crimson wait" it was rainbow dash. she flew down in front of me and landed. she had tears in her eyes.

"dash i'm sorry." i said.

"save it." she snapped at me. "i don't care where you're going i just want you to know that..." she stopped for a second because she was practically crying. "i just want you to know that i hope you don't come back." she said.

if you listen very closely you could literally hear my heart crack and then shatter and fall to the bottom of my chest. tears rolled up in my eyes but i couldn't cry. i just stared at her.

"i'm sorry it's come to this... but i'll go." i said. "you can have the house and everything in it... and i hope you take good care of the children... and maybe you will one day forgive me." i said with a few tears rolling down the side of my face.

"i don't think i can forgive you... i loved you and i trusted you. i married a colt whose soul shines brighter than the sun, but i don't know him anymore. i trusted you not to do this and you promised, and i thought things were going to get better... i was stupid to think that could be true." she said.

"i'm sorry you feel that way." i said.

"i've tolerated you so far with all the adventure in your life. but it's too much." she said. she took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. "i don't ever want to see you again... ever. now go." she said.

"goodbye rainbow dash... forever." i said turning around. she turned away and stuck her nose in the air as i walked away down the path through the everfree forest. when i was out of sight i could hear her break down into tears and start crying. i silently cried too.

i made a trail of teardrops through the forest. i walked for about 3 hours and i was still crying. i can't believe that i could be so foolish. i guess those wishing stones didn't work because i wasn't strong enough to protect my family. in a flare of anger i lashed a shadow to the side of me and yelled as loud as i could. the shadow cut through at least 15 trees and they all fell to the ground. i stood there breathing heavily in anger. the anger quickly faded to sadness and i kept walking. i could hear laughing in the back of my head.

"hahahaha, now you know what it means to suffer." said the demon.

"no... this isn't over... i refuse to believe that i'm going to just walk away from this" i said. i was basically talking to myself but i could since i was alone.

"oh and what you're going to go and say you're sorry... face it you're soul is as black as mine... just accept it. think of the possibilities we could overcome together. we would be immortal and all powerful."

"no" i said. "i will not be tempted by you again."

"those ponies think they were afraid... true fear is staring not at death but at the face of ultimate pain knowing there's no escape and no end to the suffering. that is the face of fear." said the demon. i covered my ears with my wings thinking it would help block out the sound of his voice.

"be quiet demon." i said.

" there's a reason why our kind went extinct. the ponies were just afraid of our power. the shadowmancer's could have been dominant... but they weren't as strong as you... they were all weak and were killed... but you... with your power you could rule all of equestria." he said.

"I SAID BE SILENT DEMON." i said yelling. the symbols on my body started glowing brightly and the ground shook. this only lasted a few seconds and then died down. i started crying again. unfortunately in order to become strong enough to fix this i had to do the one thing that drove me away.

i walked around until i came across a cave entrance. i walked in and eventually made it to the main chamber. there was a mountain of gold and a dragon just as big sitting on it growling at me. even though there is light there must be something to cast a shadow.

i closed my eyes and the whole room went dark. my eyes glowed white and so did the dragon. i floated up into the air and there was a rumbling sound and a wind blew in from the entrance of the cave.

"yes...yes." said the demon. soon his half took control and the spirit of the dragon started tearing from the dragon and flew over to me. i started consuming the soul and the dragon started roaring and writhing in pain. it made a loud roar that shook the cave. this lasted for at least ten minutes and the dragon was dead.

i finished consuming the soul and i dropped to the ground. i hung my head in shame again. but i knew what i was doing. may god forgive me but i need to make this right.

"yes..."said the demon laughing "yes do you feel that." he said. he was right i felt like i could wipe out an entire army right now. the power was unimaginable... but not enough. "do you feel it." he repeated. "how does it feel." he said. i didn't respond. i just trotted out of the cave and back into the forest.

i walked through. i was going to devour every malevolent soul i could find. with their power and knowledge combined i just might be able to fix this. i hated this plan but there was no other way i could think of. i hated the fact that my life had turned into a constant fight for power.

i walked for a while until i heard a roar from the bushes... great another soul to consume. the bushed rattled and a large manticore jumped out in front of me. he slashed at me once but i dodged it. i grabbed him with a few tentacles and my eyes glowed a bright white.

before i actually started i heard another sound from the bushes. i looked over quickly to see another large manticore with two smaller ones. i quickly put two and two together. i was about to eat the soul of a father... probably just got scared and needed to protect his family. i looked back to the manticore i had grabbed.

he was trembling in fear... i couldn't do this. oh god what have i become. i stopped and let the manticore down. he ran into the shrub and over to his family. they looked over at me and i just walked down the path. after a while of internal conflict i began to talk and yell at myself.

"oh god what have i become... i'm so stupid." i said hitting myself in the head. "i was just settling in and then i went and fucked it all up... why, why, why" i said. hitting myself in the head with every 'why'. i took a deep sigh.

"i should have never tried to be the hero... i suck at being the hero. i help everypony around me but hurt the ones the closest." i said. tears started to roll down my face and i silently wept.

i continued to talk to myself for the entire time i was walking. it was hours later and i was still silently crying and talking to myself. i just moved forward wondering where it all went wrong. wondering what i could have done to prevent this. i occasionally burst out in a fit of rage and cut a few trees but that only lasted like 5 seconds.

"where the hell am i going to go now?" i asked myself.

"well i don't know... but this path has to lead somewhere." i replied to myself. i kept walking and started to wonder about a few things. one thing lead to another like how dash was going to take care of the kids. did she even know when scootaloo's birthday was.

"speaking of birthdays what day is it." i asked myself. i remembered the most current dat i could think of and then started counting the days... i triple checked and i concluded that it was august 15th. that's funny. my birthday is tomorrow.

what a wonderful way to spend a birthday, in the woods having just been cast out from ponyville and abandoned by all your friends and loved ones. it doesn't matter. i never celebrated my birthday, not since i was 21. the last birthday present i ever got from anybody was an expensive bottle of champagne which was gifted to me from my father.

hard to believe i've been walking all day just thinking about how my life just went to shit. i really covered every aspect. it was already getting dark out. i walked off the road and found a nice bush to sleep in. i made sure there wasn't any poison oak and laid down. i let the cool night's breeze slowly put me to sleep.

****this is the beginning of the end of my life.


	50. Chapter 50: I Am That I Am

i woke up the next day slowly and let all the memories of the previous day rush back into my mind. i let out a depressing sight. at least i wasn't killed in my sleep. i walked back into the road but i tripped and fell to the ground. i didn't get mad about tripping i probably deserved it. i looked back to see what tripped me.

i turned to see i had just tripped over a brightly colored and fully wrapped present box... what the hell. i got on my back and sat up in the street in front of the box. there was a tag on it that said "happy birthday, alex." it was for me. and by the mysteriousness of the package and the fact they used my real name i'd figure that it's from celestia. i flipped the tag and i was right.

i popped off the top of the box and the first thing i noticed was a giant stone. i picked it up and it was a wishing rune... great. i looked down and saw a small note. i picked it up and read it.

"Dear alex... i know about what happened in ponyville and i was afraid this would happen. i should tell you that i haven't been fully truthful. that day when you got your powers and i thought you were a demon was a lie. i knew you were still yourself but as you know about shadowmancer's they can be deadly. i planned to kill you there but then when you showed mercy to that guard i changed my mind. i knew there was good in you then and there still is now." the note continued on the back

i flipped it over and started reading the rest.

"darkness does not simply take over light. because without light there is nothing to cast shadows, but we can't have light without casting shadows. i know you'll pull through this... i'm giving you a real wishing tablet. the one death had given you was a fake used as part of his test. any new power you might have felt was in you all that time. i hope you can find your way, so use this wisely... and remember even if there is no hope, happiness, or way out... turn to your faith... it will protect you." that was it.

i picked up the tablet and it hummed and glowed. i thought for a second. a million possibilities presented themselves in my head. a million possibilities but there were 2 million problems. i didn't know what to do. i... just.

"i wish i knew what to do." i said. i put my forehead to the tablet and started crying. the tablet broke and i watched the pieces fall. they turned to a bright glowing dust before even hitting the ground. the dust formed a cloud and started floating down the path... i was confused but i decided to follow it.

i followed the cloud of dust for hours and my legs were getting sore, but i couldn't stop. this was important. i followed it some more. i noticed large red/ brown looking mountains past the roof of the forest. they were close. i continued to walk forward and follow the cloud. eventually the ground under me became more and more dry.

it was all cracked, and the dryer it got the more the plant life started to shrink in density. soon enough i could see the large mountains of red and brown clay in front of me. i kept walking and it looked like the dust cloud was leading me through a gap in between the mountains. it took a few more minutes but i finally followed the dust cloud through and into the mountains. but they weren't mountains.

i looked over the barren red landscape and it was a giant crater surrounded by large mountains. it had to expand for miles. there were no plants, animals, sources of water, or even rocks. the ground was completely flat despite the fact it was cracked from the heat.

the dust cloud kept moving forward and i followed it. i walked for about what felt like more than a few hours and i was surrounded by nothing on all sides. i looked up to the sky and saw large dark clouds blowing in through the sky. they blocked out the sun and everything went dark.

there was a small gust of wind. but the dust cloud remained intact. i kept following it. after a few more minutes and the wind had picked up and started blowing dry dirt into my face the cloud burst and sprinkled shiny pieces of dust everywhere. i looked around and there was still nothing around but dirt.

"what the hell... that's it. you lead me out into the desert in the middle of a storm... celestia you cold bitch. i yelled cursing her name. i sat down on the ground. a few drops of rain started to fall. soon enough the storm was full on and i was soaked. i sat there and cried in the rain.

i guess i deserve this... and i'm not accounting for just the soul eating incident. i'm taking the hit's for everything i've done wrong. i looked down and noticed i probably didn't bring my fathers cross. i still think i have linda's. i opened my bag and rummaged through it. i pulled out the cross and held it.

holding the cross warmed me on the inside but i didn't feel any better. the rain was falling hard and it was stinging against my face and arms. sat back down i crossed my arms on my knees and buried my face in between my arms to shield myself from the rain. i could just use my shadows but i'm never going to use those ever again.

i gripped the cross tightly and held it in my hand. the water on it started dripping off. soon enough it got warm and the drops of water on it evaporated off of it. and it glowed. i didn't think much of it really. a lot of crazy shit happens to me now and this is just some other thing.

that's what i thought but i could feel the cross slowly filling me with joy... and happiness, i soon forgot my regrets and my troubles and just looked at the cross. if there are demons and hell and purgatory there must be a heaven. and that means that there is a god and he is out there somewhere and i knew he could see me and feel my pain.

i climbed to my knees and held the cross tight in my hand and it continued to glow. eventually i started reciting the our father. then the hail mary and then the apostles creed. i could hear a faint hissing in the back of my head.

"what are you doing you fool." said the demon. "stop that now... god will destroy you for the ultimate evil you have committed... stop." he said then he started hissing and making noise. i ignored him and prayed in the rain.

"dear god i know you hear me, i know you have seen my trouble and felt my pain. i would pray for forgiveness but i am beyond that... i know now that i may never be forgiven of my sins. i pray though for guidance... i pray for knowledge... and i pray for control." i prayed.

"no you fool he's already damned you why would he help you, you are lost to him... you are nothing to him, just one more blemish on the world that deserves to burn." said the demon. he sounded to be in great pain. i opened my eyes to see the light of the cross had traveled up my arms and was wrapping my body in light. i closed my eyes and kept praying.

"i do not pray for my needs but i wish for the forgiveness of others. i would gladly burn for eternity as long as i were to burn knowing that the ones i cared and loved for in life cared and loved me too... i pray for you guidance in making this right and ridding this great evil from my soul." i said.

i looked down and most of my body was completely covered in light now save a few spots and my face. it was warm and joyous. it made me feel happy, and safe... it was like god himself were holding me up to listen to me. i knew he was listening.

"i have learned that god forgives all. but unfortunately the rest don't. i pray for the forgiveness of my friends, the forgiveness of my family, and i pray that maybe someday i can learn to forgive myself for giving in to such dire laments... i pray but i don't expect a reward." i said "amen" i said. the demon had finally stopped freaking out.

i opened my eyes to see only light. i could feel the ground underneath me and the rain hitting my body but i could see only light. i let the light warm me on the inside and lift my spirits.

"i have heard you my child." said a voice. the voice was deep and comforting. it seemed to come from all angles.

"who is this." i asked.

"i am that i am... i am what was, what is, and what always will be." said the voice. oh...my...GOD, it was the lord himself answering my prayers.

"lord why do you bless me with your presence." i asked.

"i have felt your pain... it weighs heavy on me... though i am not the god of this world i am still you're god... and i have heard your prayers." he said.

"lord give me strength and forgive me."

"i will bestow on you the blessed gifts of the lord... with these gifts i wish for you to spread the holy word and honor those who you love and those who you do not know." he said. i could feel an incredible sensation in my body. there was absolutely no comparison to it.

"lord i thank thee for these blessed gift's but i pray for forgiveness as well." i said. "where am i to begin if i am not trusted."

"i have never frowned upon you or you choices... there is no need for forgiveness from me... though some of your choices were poor... you made them with nothing but the best intentions in your heart" he said.

"i meant from the ones i care about." i said. the light around me started fading and soon it was gone. i felt the warmth still in me and i held the cross tight as i was battered with rain and the dark world around me "no lord... wait... my lord." i said.

a hole in the clouds opened above me and let light shine through. the rain stopped hitting me and i stood there soaking wet basking in the rays of light.

"always remember alex... to find peace... you must find forgiveness... and to find forgiveness you must find the righteous path." said the lord as a the clouds parted and revealed a path of sunlight. gods voice lingered for a bit and faded. i made the sign of the cross and started walking.

i cannot believe that i have just witnessed such a miracle. i honestly couldn't believe it so much that a few times i thought it was a dream or a hallucination but it wasn't. today i met god... my god, and he lead me to the path of forgiveness. i only hope it's not hard to travel.

the path of light brought me straight to the way i came into this place. i walked past the opening and past the mountains. i kept walking until the shrub picked up and thickened. soon enough i was back in the forest. it was getting close to night.

i needed to rest and reflect on what just happened. i've done some pretty awesome stuff in my time here but this... there is just no possible way anything could even come close to how great this was. i talked to god... TO GOD. do you know how often that happens, oh only like once every thousand years or so. god isn't a bit of a talker but he is a great listener.

i sat down and started trying to concentrate. i concentrated on using my shadows to cut down a tree and make shelter. but the more i concentrated the stranger i felt. it didn't feel like my normal magic self. something was different.

i tried callin my shadows but i got a sharp pain in my back . i grit my teeth and looked back to see small slits of skin opening up on my back. i watched as they soon took a familiar shape. it was the shape of the cross. that made me smile. the symbols on me started glowing black... except for the cross.

i looked at it and watched it. it was glowing a bright golden yellow like holy light. soon enough the symbols next to it started the become washed over with the same color. it was a true miracle. then i heard screams of pain in the back of my head.

"the hand of god is upon you... fool what have you done." said the demon.

"i know what i have done" i said. "i've finally fixed all of my problems." i said. "burn forever you foul demon." i said.

"i will not be overcome like this." said the demon. i felt a pain in my stomach and it traveled up my back. i grit my teeth in pain and started moaning. i grabbed my cross and held it. my body seemed to react to it and it glowed it helped with the pain but not much.

i watched and saw the symbols on my body flash and change from golden yellow to the deepest of blacks. i stood to my feet. i was tired of this happening. this was my body... my life... and i AM DONE.

"ENOUGH" i roared through the forest. the tree's skook. and i was enveloped in a ray of light which broke the ground under me. i looked around the see that it wasn't just light but it was also shadow. it was a bright golden yellow light that was covered by a deep black smoke. the smoke seeped from the ray of light and covered the ground. what kind of awesome power has god bestowed upon me.

when he said blessed gifts i thought he meant like different virtues like happiness, or joy, or creativity or something... not wicked awesome fucking powers. i needed to know what i was capable of. before i could start however the demon spoke up.

"you fool what have you done." he said. i looked around and saw myself the symbols on my body had changed in color. the large symbols like the heart on my chest and the cross and all the other big important ones were glowing a bright yellow. the other runes that were just little strange scribbles were glowing black.

"i don't know you tell me... you probably know more than I" i said to my demon.

"you stopped the conditioning process. i was going to keep your God's gifts dormant and make my soul the dominant." said the demon. "and you've screwed it up... our two powers mixed... you're God was more powerful than i thought."

"first of all i was not going to let that happen... and second of all that serves you right for insulting my god by denying his gifts and then thinking him weak." i said. "be lucky that you were strong too and were not destroyed."

the demon was silent and i was still glowing intently. i wanted to see what i fully looked like but i didn't have a mirror. maybe there's a puddle or something nearby. i walked into the shrub and looked around. eventually i came across a small pond. it was still light enough that there was a reflection... perfect.

i peered my head over and looked at myself. first thing i notice, first thing was a ring of light above my head. i had a halo. that was so cool. i saw a few lightning bugs swarming around me. i tried to chase them but they kept around me. i swatted at one but it just passed through my hand. i don't think they were bugs.

i looked in the pond again. i strained myself and the symbols started to glow. i watched as the symbols with holy light in them sparkled and shimmered they sent off these little cinders of holy light. i liked that. i was burning with holy energy. the dark symbols however stared to secrete a thin smoke.

i spread out my wings and looked at them. as soon as i flared them out holy light traveled from the base and to the tip covering the symbols there. and spreading out my wings like this also caused them to release a handful of those cinders from each wing.

i looked back into the lake. i kinda liked the way i had changed. it gave me a benevolent but still fearsome and powerful feel about me. i looked closely at myself and noticed my eyes glowed bright yellow now. i liked that over the black. although i have to honestly say i did like being a shadowmancer.

it gave was exciting and dangerous. i had a lot of power and it was always a bit sketchy which i liked. the whole idea about it was well known but still a big mystery. and every day was something new. i'm not sure how this compares though. i still need to see what i can do.

i backed up and concentrated. the ground below me started glowing and there was a pool of light. like the shadows i had but it was light covered in black smoke. i concentrated and a few tentacles raised from the light. the were made of the same light and covered still in black fog. the fog did add some personality to it.

i fooled around a bit with my powers and i've come to the logical conclusion that i like this holy and demonic power much better. it had the holiness and power of gods might, but shared the same attacks and the same tricks as the demonic powers. it simply was better. i also learned that i could turn invisible.

it's not like before where i can hide only in shadows and actually become one with the shadow. it simply bends light waves around my body so that i cannot be seen. basically i'm the same but better and now i've got the power of god on my side... this was going to be good.

i didn't even bother to build shelter and sleep i just walked down the path of the forest. i used my powers to keep the path lit. i also wanted to try something too. i concentrated and let the light travel up my body and harden. i closed my eyes and looked at what my new armour looked like. it was pretty cool. it looked like some kind of battle robe. it had shoulder pads which were spikey but the pikes only rose like 2 inches at the most. i had metal armor under a white robe. the robe had a cross on it and i came with a hood and a facemask. it was sick.

i didn't want to keep it on too long and it turned into some kind of glitter like dust that blew away and sparkled. that was cool. i kept walking and walking... and walking. i just walked. my legs weren't hurting me and i wasn't even tired. soon enough it was morning. and before i knew it noon was upon me.

i had to be close by now. i squinted my eyes forward and used my enhanced vision to see that i was right. only like 400 yard away was the exit. the path was a completely straight shot. i smiled and kept walking. i started thinking about how i was going to confront everypony and that removed the smile from my face.

this is going to be hard. but i felt in total control over every single aspect of my being. i was going to be in control this time and not let my emotions take hold of me. i kept thinking and before i knew it the exit of the forest was only 10 yard away. as i slowly walked forward i swallowed my regrets and my nervousness. i put a blank expression on my face and walked through the entrance. nopony was around. because there was nothing around this was the way back of the park.

there was a big hill that i had to scale before i could start actually seeing ponies. i walked forward and swallowed my nervousness again. i made it to the top of the hill and i could see over everypony in the park. they were all playing and having fun. almost like i was never a part of this town.

i saw one pony turn his head. his eyes widened and he stared at me. then another looked over then another... soon they all were staring at me. i didn't know what to do so i walked forward. with every step i took forward the ponies stepped back and slowly moved away.

"ya'll got some nerve showing your face round these parts." said a familiar voice. i turned to my right to see applejack walking over with a shovel. "i thought we all told you to git lost." she said.

"applejack i." before i could finish she hit me with the shovel across the face.

"nopony wants you here get lost." she said. hitting my leg now. the hit made me bend a bit and my knee twisted a bit but i stood back up. "i said go." she said swinging at me again and hitting my chest.

"applejack why are you beating me with a shovel." i said.

"cause y'all are dangerous and i won't let you hurt nopony else." she said. my blank face dropped a bit and gave way to hint of worry and sadness at the same time. i wasn't mad that she was hitting me with a shovel... it didn't even hurt that much. "and it ain't got to do with just stealin that elf' fellah's soul." she said. "twilight showed me the book... you're kind are too unstable and dangerous." she said. she hit me with the shovel after every couple of words.

"applejack you know that's not me." i said. i could feel a hint of remorse in her and it was slowly getting bigger. "c'mon applejack remember how things used to be." i said. she stopped for a second and swung at me again.

"don't... don't make me snap yer legs." she said. i just looked at her. she swung the shovel at my legs over and over again but they refused to break. "why don't you feel any pain." she said swinging over and over.

"because i've already felt the greatest pain ever." i said as she slowed her swinging to listen. "the book says that having your soul stolen is a pain so great it is incomparable with any other pain."

"and how do you think that elf fellah felt. he was a bad guy but he didn't deserve that. i grew up learning' that only the truly evil would do such things."

"and how do you think i felt that in my moment of weakness i did what i could to survive so i could be with my friends... but instead they abandoned me and cast me out into a dark world." i said. i could see small tears rolling up in apple jacks eye's.

"that's not the same..." she said. he swinging was becoming weaker.

"i know... it's worse... to know that the ones who love you would be so quick to throw you away." i said . she swung one more time and it hit me across the face and broke my snout. it made a loud crunch and blood started running out of it. i didn't cringe or grit my teeth i just looked back at dash.

"oh...crimson..ah." i stopped her before she could even finish her sentence.

"it was only a year ago applejack that i was new here a fresh face in a brand new place. it was only a year ago that i was working on your farm with you and your brother so i could make rent... that was really the only time when my life was simple..." i said.

"why can't things be that simple now." said applejack. with tears down her face.

"because things aren't supposed to be simple... if they we're... well then there would be no challenge, and without a challenge we wouldn't learn from it and become stronger." i said.

"crimson..." said applejack. "ah'm so sorry... i was quick to judge... and i'm not worthy to be you're friend. you were here trying to apologize to me and all i did was beat you with a shovel... i'm sorry." she said tossing the shovel away.

she walked over and hugged me. i hugged her back. it felt good that i had apple jacks forgiveness, but there was still the rest of ponyville. i could feel that the people who were watching had started to warm up. applejack let go.

"i'll go get the others." she said wiping her eyes and running off. i guess i just wait then. i sat down in the grass field. i pulled out my cross and silently started praying to god for guidance. i could feel myself getting more confident with every prayer. soon enough i felt the energy of five other familiar ponies.

twilight, pinkie, rainbow dash, rarity, and fluttershy. soon approached me all with looks of disappointment on their faces. except for fluttershy who only had tears in her eyes.

the first to step up was rainbow. she walked over and looked me in the eyes. this was going to be hard. we stared at each other until i mustered up the courage to say something.

"dash i..." she cut me off.

"i don't want to fucking hear it... just shut your face. i said that i never wanted to see you're face ever again." she said. she was angry. but it wasn't just based around me. she had conflicting feelings about many other things.

"dash if you didn't want to see my face why did you came looking for me." i said. her eyes widened for a sec but the returned to her angered glare.

"don't change the subject... i've had it with you... most things i could deal with but the rest of the time you told me it was going to be alright and that you would never leave me... but then something worse would happen" she said starting to tear up and cry. she wasn't angry because she was angry but because she was sad. "and you would get hurt. and every time i stood by you in the hospital for as long as i could and... and i would cry because i wasn't sure if you would ever come back..."

"if you were scared that i would die then why did you tell me to leave dash... why." i said also with tears in my eyes.

"because then at least you would be alive and out there." she said. " just couldn't take it anymore and you promised me... you promised me you would be careful and that you would never do anything like what you did... how can i trust somepony like you around my children." she said.

"dash i didn't do that just to do it." i said, my emotions were beginning to flare a bit. "think about it... i did what i did to survive, that elf would have killed me." i said.

"YOU DO ALL YOU CAN TO SURVIVE... ANYTHING YOU CAN." she yelled.

"YOU'RE MISSING THE BIG PICTURE DASH." i said yelling dash. "i do what i can to survive because i know how afraid my friends are that i will die. i do all i can because i have two kids and they need they're father and a wife who needs her husband. i try because i couldn't bare to give up and die... and never see my family... because i love them... i do all i can to survive because i love my family...i love you and scootaloo and baby dawn... but you don't see that my love is so strong that when i did die i FUCKING CAME BACK... because i love you." i said. i had tears rolling down my face and so did dash.

"i...i" she stammered but i stopped her.

"thats why it hurt so much when you told me to leave and never come back... because i thought you knew... but i guess you didn't... dash i love you so much that after everything that had happened i came back here to confront the entire town and my friends. i came back to confront you because i love you... and i'm telling you all that i just told you because i love you... and i'm not sure if you would ever forgive me but no matter how many times you break my heart i will still love you and i will always be here rainbow dash. that is both a threat and a promise." i said ending my sentence by stomping my hoof on the ground and cracking it.

"crimson. i." said dash but i stopped her.

"when i left ponyville i traveled for three days. and yesterday... on my birthday, the princess gave me a wishing stone. it was sitting in a box in the road. and she told me if anypony could make the right choice it was me. i could have wished for so many things right there. a thousand good wishes, a thousand bad, but with a million problems... you know what i wished for." i said.

"w-what." she said with a sore voice.

"i wished that i knew what to do... i didn't know anymore i was lost and broken and mentally suffering from the trauma. the tablet burst into dust and lead me out of the woods to a land where life was but a distant memory. it led me into the middle of the wasteland during a large storm. it disappeared and i was in the middle of a wasteland during a storm with nothing to my name, no hope, no title, and nopony to care for... so i sat in the rain... and i prayed... i prayed to god for guidance." i said.

i started to summon some of my power a little bit at a time. i used it to clear the skies above me and give myself the only source of sunlight in ponyville. some ponies backed away slowly in fear and others watched in amazement.

"and he came to me..." i said spreading out my wings and beginning to let the symbols on my body light up. "he came to me and i begged not for his forgiveness but for yours. he showed me the path. told me to go and earn your forgiveness and he has made...me...STRONG" i said in a hearty voice.

i was glowing brightly with my light wings spread out by my side and the little cinders swirling around my body. the halo glowing bright above my head. my eyes were glowing golden yellow and the sun shone on me from the hole in the cloud. i looked like some kind of angel.

"ponies forget what true evil is really like." i said looking over the crowd of awestruck ponies. "true evil is malevolent and heartless. after all the times i have saved this town alone not to mention equestria i was thrown out by the same ponies who called me 'hero'." i said. i was letting my emotions sway the subject for emphasis.

i floated up into the air and looked down over all the ponies. they looked at me like they expected me not to blame them... nothing happens without a reason and there is always somepony linked to that reason. they are all to blame.

"true evil would have destroyed this town 8 months ago, true evil would not have just left when you threw it out, i agree my actions were drastic but you ponies need to think for a second..."

the environment started banding to my emotions. there was a medium breeze and the clouds grew darker and it started to rain lightly.

"i have been patient but know now that nothing will be the same." i said. i floated back to the ground and landed. the weather faded and i used my powers to clear the sky completely. "i sincerely hope that you may forgive me for any wrongs that i have done... and i hope my friends can too." i said

they looked at each other with mixed emotions.

"if they do or don't it doesn't matter because i'm returning back to ponyville. and you're welcome to run me out but if you come after me then you are my enemy... and you have seen what happened to my enemies." i said. the towns ponies cowered back in fear. "that is not a threat... but a promise, simply ignore me and there won't be trouble." i said.

i turned back to my friends they were all practically crying except for twilight she seemed angry. she stepped up and confronted me.

"i don't know what you're doing." she said "but be sure that i will never forgive you." she said.

"twilight what have i done to you." i asked.

"the princess made it my job to keep you in control. to make sure you didn't become unstable. it was going along nicely until you became more and more powerful. i even warned you. that night i read from the book. i already knew those things. i read it so that you would know what you were dealing with... but i failed and the book only put ideas in your head." she said.

"twilight i'm sorry." i said.

"no no you're not. i trusted you to protect the ponies and keep them happy but you've been scaring everypony instead. and what you did the other day was an ultimate act of evil. you may have seen one thing but everypony else saw something more. i saw my best friend in all of equestria, with an evil smile on his face suck the soul from an elf which causes an unrelatable amount pain. did you even bother to notice that when you tore his soul from his body it also cause the muscles and tissues to rip and separate. we watched in horror and he was slowly being ripped open and his organs and intestines fall to the ground." said twilight.

"i know... i know what i did was wrong...and there's nothing we can do now and i understand if you're mad at me... i just hope that maybe someday you can forgive me." i said.

"i'm not sure anymore crimson. you're reckless decision got me in deep trouble. the princess entrusted me to keep you inline. but after you consumed that elfs soul and ran into the woods she came after me and blamed me for it..." she said.

"that doesn't sound like celestia." i said.

"no it doesn't but she wasn't taking things lightly. there's a reason there were no more shadowmancer's crimson. they were pure evil. and the ones who thought they were good either went crazy or evil. they were almost unstoppable and incredibly powerful. they destroyed everything in their path and did everything they could to do anything they wanted. there was no equal or greater force than a fully realized shadowmancer. the only reason they died out was because of the intervention of one pony who lured almost every single last one within a large area. and performed the ultimate sacrifice of separating his soul from the demons. because this doesn't just explode but destroy matter the shadowmancer could return to their bodies and had no choice but death." she said. that was quite the story.

"twilight i'm sorry you feel that way, and i feel bad that you had to watch over me since i was some kind of constant threat. but the princess must not be that mad at you." i said

"it's not that... i've made you promise to me and to dash numerous times that you would take it easy and think smart before running off to battle but you never did... you never kept your promises and look where they got us now. i don't care about what you've become now... you're not my responsibility anymore, the princess will probably have her spies on you." said twilight.

"so you don't forgive me." i said. twilight shook her head.

"no crimson... i don't what you did was reckless and could have ultimately lead to the murder of millions of ponies and the probable destruction of equestria and maybe even other neighboring countries."

"if you were so afraid of what i had become why didn't you just kill me the second i became a shadowmancer." i asked.

"the princess told me how she was about ti sick her guards on you. until you spared the life of a guard that attacked you and she changed her mind. the entire time she wanted to study you she's wasn't learning anything new. she was just analysing you're magic patters for any dangerous signs. this whole time crimson me and the princess wanted you to try and be normal... for your safety on some part but mostly for the safety of equestria."

i started having tears roll down my eyes. my sporadic energy that i used before drained and i was depressed.

"so were we ever even friends or did you only stay close so you could watch me." i said.

"it was like that at first... but i guess i changed and grew too attached, and i guess i started to grow on you over time. i shouldn't have done that." said twilight.

"so you regret our friendship." i said.

"i don't regret it but this might not have happened if we stayed distant."

"so after everything i've done for you twilight... that's it... it was just some kind of job that you were doing for the princess... you were just baby sitting. i was there when you fought nightmare moon, i was there when you needed somepony for your magical experiments. i was there to guide you home from indigo city when you went in search of me. i came back to equestria to help you defeat discord, and i thought you were my friend through all of it... did you even read the book i gave you when we first met." i asked.

"yes..." she replied. "i've read it 50 times." she said.

"why have you read it so much." asked dash.

"the language is a bit dated and it's hard to tell chapters apart... but after reading it over 5 times i realized it's not a story." she said. i finished her sentence.

"it's a log of true events through my history that teeth lessons." i said. i looked over to twilight. "i'm sorry that i'm such a disappointment to you twilight. and you're probably right... a friendship like hours shouldn't happen... but it was nice for the time that i thought it was real... i guess i'll see you around." i said.

"where are you going." asked dash.

"i'm going to go find a new place to stay... i'm tired." i said. by this time all the ponies watching before had left because of the fact that it was getting dark.

"why do you need to do that." said dash.

"because i left everything to you when i left...i've got nothing to my name anymore." i said. she quickly ran over and hugged me. twilight just smiled and teleported away.

"baby i'm so sorry for how i acted... if i were you i would have came back yelling. but you came back apologizing even though you didn't do any of the hurting... we did." i want you to come home. i miss you and the kids miss you. and thunder misses you. you can have all of your old stuff back... it just makes cry to look at it when you're not here" said dash hugging me tight.

"yeah you really have changed..." said applejack. "wah did ya let me hit you with that shovel... made me go and break you're snout." she said.

"because i knew that the more you hit me the more it would hurt you." i said.

"well you were right... i'd rather be getting the shovel end of the stick." said applejack.

"it's good to see you're back... and i am sorry too." said rarity.

"me too." said fluttershy,

"and me three." said pinkie saying it slower than usual.

"i came here to beg for your forgiveness... but you all have been the ones saying sorry and i've been doing the forgiving. i hope you can all forgive me for what i have done." i said.

"we do." they all said.

"and i forgive you guys." i said. we all smiled. "i hope now our lives can be normal...well they way it was without the chance of me destroying all of civilization." i said. we all chuckled together and i put a hoof around dash.

"so we'll see you guys tomorrow." said pinkie. i laughed quietly and nodded. we all said goodbye and me and dash headed home.

"i missed you baby." i said.

"i missed you too. and the kids have missed you as well. especially scootaloo." said rainbow.

"and you said derek missed me too." i said.

"yeah he has... ever since you left all he does is just drink and sleep... you should go see him tomorrow... maybe go on an adventure." she said to me.

"so you're going to let me go adventuring." i said.

"well whatever you did back there with the light and the clouds just to prove that you have changed worked. i don't know why but i feel... safe around you." she said.

"i'm glad you feel that way honey." i said. "and you should. i have the power of god on my side." i said.

"and how terrified should i be." said dash smiling.

"well invoking the wrath of god means you will die and then be damned to hell where you will burn indefinitely." i said. she giggled a bit as we turned onto the path to my house.

"that must suck..." said dash. "burning forever... that's kinda cruel and unusual." she said.

"don't question Gods methods. besides you have to be a really horrible pony for that to happen." i said as we reached the door. i opened it up. still feels like home. i walked in and mosied to the living room. dash followed me and went over to scootaloo's bedroom door and knocked.

"scootaloo theres somepony here to see you." dash said smiling.

"what." scootaloo said swinging the door open. she took one look at me and her eyes went wide. i smiled. she just screamed and slammed the door shut.

"not the uh... reaction i was hoping for. but it's a start." i said.

"oh the poor thing... she's been having nightmares since she saw you... i've only been making it worse by telling her bad things about you." she said.

"why did you do that." i said.

"i don't know." said dash hanging her head. "i was mad at you... and for a moment i believed you were going to be gone forever."

"baby, i was never really going to leave... i was going to stay close so if you ever needed me i would be there." i said.

"you really were!" she said.

"of course... i told you i would never leave." i said. dash leaned over and hugged me. she planted a kiss on my cheek.

"why are you so good to me." she said.

"because you're one of the most important ponies in my life." i said

"one of them" she said looking at me. i laughed.

"we got kids don't we." i said. she laughed. i looked over and saw a pair of purple bags in the corner. "hey who's bags are those." i said pointing.

"oh those are twilight's she stayed here for a night after you left to help cheer me up...*sigh*... i guess i should go return them to her." said dash.

"no... let me." i said.

"are you sure you want to do that... i mean after what twilight told you... even i was fooled and she's my best friend." said dash.

"yeah... i'll be fine, i need to talk to her." i said grabbing the bags. i walked to the door. it was dusk.

"are you going to come back drunk cause if you are i won't be upset." she said. i laughed silently.

"be back soon." i said walking out the door. i closed the door and headed off to twilight's house. i walked past corners and down streets until her tree came into view. i walked up and took a deep breath. i knocked on the door. the door swung open.

"hello." twilight said with a smile on her face, that changed when she saw it was me. "what are you doing here." she said.

"returning your bags." i said. she used her magic to pick them up and throw them inside.

"alright bye." she said leaving the doorway. i put my hoof in front of it and i stopped from closing. i pushed it open.

"not so fast... we need to talk." i said.

"get out of my house." she said.

"this is a public library." i said.

"where closed."

"you're going to have to throw me out and we both know that you can't do that. so why not suck it up and face me... because there are a lot of things that you're not telling me." i said. closing the door behind me.

"fine what do you want to know." she said.

"first of all why..." i asked. "why did you have to pretend to be my friend." i said.

"because if i got too attached something like this would happen... you wouldn't take me seriously and this would happen like i predicted." she said.

"how come everypony else can forgive me but you can't... what is your deal... so the princess yelled at you."

"she didn't just yell at me but she reprimanded me. i'm under constant parol by royal guards and she might even take away my home in ponyville and i'd have to move back to canterlot... i don't want to leave my friends." she said. i think we were getting somewhere.

"that can't be it." i said.

"it's not. i trusted you. like i said i told you time and time again to be careful and not to fool around with your powers. but you did it anyway and they took hold of you."

"they did not." i said in a deep voice. "i adapted to the situation and survived anyway i knew how... because i'd rather burn in hell for all of eternity than see my friends and family suffer without me. i knew there would be consequences, and i was ready to face them because i knew i could handle them." i said marching around the room.

"well you haven't handled them very well." she said.

"i think i've handled them very well. you're the only pony i'm having trouble with. i did what i did and then left for three days. in those three days everypony cooled down and i came back to apologize."

"well you didn't do much apologizing." said twilight.

"because maybe i'm not the only one who did something wrong...you were there... you watched as they booed me out of town... in the end everypony overreacted and apologies were made. at least it's not like last time where i left for 3 months. and i never planned to go far. i was going to stay in central equestria close to ponyville..." i said.

"why would you do that." said twilight.

"incase you guys needed me." i said.

"who in the right mind would go and travel out of ponyville to try and track you down and ask you for help." she said.

"if left alone, all wounds will heal in time twilight... and those who need the most help are the most likely to find it." i said.

"not all wounds heal with time." said twilight.

"that's only if the wounded is dead or not worth saving. is that our friendship. i'd like to think that it is worth saving but i need to know twilight. can we let our friendship heal and be friends again... or is this the end... is our friendship dead. i said. twilight looked at me. she had no shred of emotion on her face but she felt hostile.

"no crimson... our friendship is dead, i would say sorry but i don't care... now please go... i have some packing to do before i leave." she said.

"twilight where are you going." i asked.

"to canterlot... the princess want's me to stay at the castle for a while until she can calm the whole shadowmancer incident." she said. "now please go." she said. i opened the door and looked back at her.

"goodbye twilight it's been nice knowing you"

-Authors Note: i put so much feeling into the last 2 chapters. and becoming blessed by god too that's a nice twist. you'd be surprised how many possible outcome's ive thought about for this chapter. some of them where pretty crazy but i think this works. our hero has managed to fix the wound he caused on ponyville but if a wound is too great, it will leave a scar.-End of Note-


	51. Chapter 51: Finally Seeing The Light

'Goodbye'...most times we say it casually... other times it's one of the hardest and most painful words to force out of your mouth. i may have looked calm but i was breaking down on the inside. i closed the door to twilight's house and walked away. i kept my head down the entire time to my house.

i walked down the path and opened the door to my house. i walked in and dash was in the kitchen. i could smell that she was cooking something good. i think it was... it was my favorite, apple cabbage soup. i walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek while she was stirring the soup.

"how was it baby... i know you didn't just go there to drop off her bags... did you two talk." dash asked.

"yeah... it didn't go well." i said with a few tears in my eyes.

"oh... oh gosh are you alright." she asked. i was on the verge of crying.

"not really... she said that she had to... leave for canterlot for a while, i'm not sure how long but it's under the princess's orders." i said.

"what... the princess can't possibly..." i cut her off.

"she said that i could have grown unstable and laid waste to all of equestria... and when i ran away the princes reprimanded her... she said that she almost lost her home in ponyville and would be forced to leave her friends." i said.

"oh my gosh... i never knew." said dash. "i swear i didn't"

"she never said she hated you guys... you're her true best friends." i said.

"what i don't get it why they didn't just tell you straight up..." said dash. i was about to reply but that hadn't come up... she made a good point. i pulled my head off of dashes shoulder and wiped the tears from my face. "you alright."

"yeah i just... i need to do something." i said.

"what." she asked.

"it's uhm... personal... i'm just going out back... i'll be gone for a few minutes." i said.

"uhm... alright." said dash. i walked into the living room and grabbed my cross. i walked out the back door and across the yard to the woods. i walked through the woods for a while until i was far enough from the house. this part of the woods was dark and the brush above was thick. i knelt down and decided to turn to god for guidance.

"dear god... if you can hear my prayers... please, answer them... i pray for your guidance." i said. i felt a warm glow. i opened my eyes to see that the roof of the forest had started to part, giving light to any remaining sunlight in the sky. i smiled.

"i have heard your prayers alex... and you have done well." he said.

"i couldn't do it all lord, i fear my friend twilight sparkle has been damaged beyond repair." i said.

"there are no wounds being either of body or mind that my light cannot heal." he said. i smiled.

"crimson..." i heard. my eyes shot open and i looked over. it was dash, she was standing there with an strange look on her face. "what are you doing."

"praying." i said. "would you... like to join me." i asked.

"where is the other pony you were talking to." she said.

"there is no other pony." i said.

"don't hide him." she said, she walked over but missed the ray of light around me. "where are you." she said.

"i am everywhere my daughter." said god. dash wiped her head around looking frantically.

"dash please just sit down." i asked. but she kept looking.

"who are you." she said.

"i am that i am... i invite you to join your husband in my holy light." said god.

"crimson im..." she said but i stopped her.

"please dash just come over here." i said. the hole in the canopy opened wider to let in space for dash. she slowly walked into the light and i took her hoof. she knelt down and stared up at the light. she was completely still.

"see my daughter, i am everything that was, that is, and everything that will be... i am the light of the spirit." said god.

"oh my gosh... crimson is this."

"god" i said cutting her off. "yes... you are speaking to the christian lord."

"you weren't kidding... you have spoken with him... you really have." she said still staring up at the light. "i feel so...so...happy, and warm." she said.

"embrace the light of the lord... let me lift your spirit." said god. dash closed her eyes and she started glowing. it wasn't a solid glow but a warm sort of shine. i think it was pretty awesome that she could get to know the lord like this.

"lord i still pray for your wisdom and guidance." i said.

"there are often paths we take, the righteous path runs by the side of challenge and hardship... often many walk in one direction, but on both paths. i fear you may be walking on those paths." he said.

"lord guide me back on the path of righteousness." i prayed.

"the one of the name, twilight sparkle plays to the role of a trickster... her heart i warm... but that warmth has been frozen by her cold shell... shine the light of your soul on her and melt the ice over her heart." he said.

"thank you my lord." i said.

"know that should you need to speak to me again." said god. as the ground rumbled and a large rock rose from the ground, it was just a big normal rock. "that this would be the church... and you it's rock." he said. i bolt of lightning crashed from the sky and struck the rock. it gave the rock and indent of a cross, it was beautiful.

"i will carry on your faith lord." i said "amen." the canopy started to close but stopped right over the rock so that it was always under the grace of god. i looked over to dash who still had her head up and her eyes closed.

"that was... amazing." she said. i smiled and grabbed her. i pulled her into me and kissed her.

"i'm glad you like him." i said.

"are you joking that was the god you talk about all the time... he sounds just as important as you make him out to be... and he just talks to you... does he do that to everypony." said dash.

"not everypony... i'm a special case." i said.

"you always are." said dash also smiling.

"you weren't as surprised as i was." i said.

"well i thought you're kind always talked to him." she said. "just like every day he answer hundreds of you're kind at once... or something." she said. i laughed.

"i wish... the bible actually tells us that god doesn't speak to us to protect us from knowing too much and destroying ourselves..." i said "you probably shouldn't have heard that but god must have wanted you to, because he would have known if you are coming."

"i'm glad i met your god... but i'll leave the praying up to you." she said.

"alright." i said nuzzling my head against hers. i let out a deep sigh.

"so what are you going to do about twilight." said dash.

"i know she has feelings for me somewhere, she said herself that she even counted me as her best friend once... that is an unforgettable bond. she's in there somewhere and i need to find her." i said.

"does that mean you're leaving again for canterlot..." said dash.

"yeah baby... i'm sorry." i said giving her a kiss on the head.

"that's alright... i understand, twilight is my friend too and i want you to do this... but i can't help but feel like we're missing something." said dash

"it was a plan between celestia and twilight. it's probably very complicated and well thought out... i'm going to have to think hard on this one." i said.

"when are you going to canterlot." asked dash. i thought for a second.

"i'll go tomorrow." i said. "c'mon it's getting late." i said standing up and walking back home. dash followed and we both walked back into the house. she went into the kitchen and finished making the soup when there was a knock on the door. "i'll get it." i said. i walked over to the door "who is it." i said and i opened the door.

randomly a beer bottle flew at my face and broke over my head. i got glass stuck in my face and i grit my teeth. son of a bitch.

"that's for leaving asshole." said a familiar voice. it was derek i kept my eyes closed because i think a few shards flew into my eyes. i could feel him hug me and pick me up. "and that's for being the craziest fucking bastard i know... you're fuckin' nuts man." he said.

"oh god my eye's..." i said, there was definitely glass in my eyes "derek you incredible asshole you got glass in my eyes." i said. he started laughing.

"oh shut up... you'll live, it takes more than that to kill you." he said.

"oh god it burns... are my eyes bleeding."

"just a bit out of the right... you'll be fine." he said. he let me go. "hey dash what's for dinner." he said walking into the kitchen. i stumbled around a bit keeping my eyes closed.

"is there REALLY no one helping me right now." i said.

"sorry bro... here." he said helping me stand. he guided me over to the downstairs bathroom and stood me up. "alright you're in front of the bathroom mirror." he said. i was afraid to open my eyes. but i did anyway.

"oh god." i said. one of my eyes was blind, the right one. it had a shard of glass stuck deep in it. the other one looked fine though and it didn't really hurt, just irritated. but my right eye... fuck. "oh derek you better hope this heals right." i said.

he handed me the tweezers. i had him hold my eye open for me. i brought the tweezers over and pinched down on the piece of glass. i pulled and it slowly slid out of my cornea. it burned like hell. i grunted and moaned in pain.

"sorry about that bro." he said.

"i hate you so much right now its not even real." i said. i grit my teeth and swallowed my nerves. i yanked hard and the shard of glass popped out of my eye. i let out a short yell of pain and closed my eye.

"c'mon let's see the damage." said derek. "and don't worry i won't throw up." he said. i looked back in the mirror and pulled my hooves from my eye. i opened my eye and it was fine... no scars or cuts and i could see out of it. "what... boring you healed it." he said.

"yeah i guess i did." i said. i turned and left the bathroom. "hey how come you don't have you're own house yet." i asked derek. "it's not like you can't afford one." i said.

"actually i do, but it's being built, i actually got plans to build my own house in ponyville... it's not far from here actually. just go down your path and follow the main road left and there's a path into the woods." he said.

"nice... when's it going to be done." i asked.

"well it's a house just as big as yours... they told me like a month." he said. "so i'll be crashing between you and roseluck." he said.

"great." i said sarcastically rolling my eyes. "well i don't have time for any... whatever kind of trouble you would suggest tonight... i have to go to canterlot tomorrow."

"great you're already leaving." he said. "why do you have to go to canterlot." he asked.

"don't worry about it." i said walking into the kitchen just as dash finished the meal. we all sat down and ate. she was a good cook. i wolfed my bowl down and two more since i had not eaten or had something to drink in three days.

after that derek crashed on the couch and me and dash headed upstairs. we laid together in bed and she cuddled up to me. she was nice and warm. i hugged her and held her tight.

"this bed is so big and lonely without you." she said.

"at least you got a bed... i slept in the bushes and dirt." i said. she giggled. "i'm sorry about this whole thing dash." i said holding her.

"i'm sorry too." she said. "you're not a bad pony... you made the right choice but with the wrong consequences." she said. "i love you crimson." she said.

"i love you too dash." i said. i closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep. i drifted off into the land of dreams. i woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. i got up and stood up. i walked downstairs. i noticed derek had already left, the clock said 11:46. i guess i overslept.

i walked to the door and pushed it open. there was a large royal guard standing at my doorstep. he seemed to act normally around me. he didn't look mad, and there wasn't backup... so i don't think i was in trouble.

"are you crimson blast." he said.

"uh... yes." i said.

"letter from the princess..." he said. he handed me the note and i grabbed it from him. before i could say anything his horn glowed and he teleported away. i walked to the living room and sat down on the couch. i opened the envelope and read the letter.

"Dear Crimson Blast. i am writing this letter to you because you made the right choice. while i am happy to know this it still does not excuse your previous actions... twilight has told me about your return. her story makes me believe you are going to come and find her. i'm afraid i cannot let that happen. i have ordered that you are no longer allowed on the castle grounds or even into the city of canterlot. i'm sorry it has to be this way but i must do what is best. if you come to the palace or the city i will take it as a threat to the kingdom and you will have to deal with me personally. if you can demonstrate that you have gained control over the demon within you then i will release the ban... but if you ever do anything such as that again, i will have no choice but to eradicate you... regards, princess celestia."

that complicates things. i don't know why but she must be really mad at me for this. but she knows me, she knows what i'm like and how i am. there has to be something else behind this. but she can't be serious of attacking me if i go to the castle.

"what's that." asked dash descending the stairs.

"it's a note from the princess." i said.

"let me see that." she said. i handed it to her and she started reading. i watched her facial expressions change as she read further into the letter. "what the fuck is this." she said crushing up the letter "she can't do that.. she..she just can't." said dash. i walked over and hugged her.

"it's fine... i don't know what's wrong but obviously there's still a lot of mistrust and fear to my name, but that has changed and i tend to show everypony that." i said. dash pulled away and looked at me.

"please tell me you're not going to the castle." she said. i just looked at her. "no... don't i know you're a very powerful pony but the princess is just something else entirely." she said.

"do you really think that her sunlight can compare to the light of god" i said.

"your going to get yourself killed." she said. "i'm sorry crimson but i won't let you go." she said.

"dash please." i said. but she jumped on me and held me tight.

"no... don't go please...just...please don't go."

"dash i'm done with this... i'm fed up with the secrets and the lies." i said pushing her off. "i'm going to canterlot and i will fight celestia to the death if i have to... but i'm going to fix this and i've never been so sure of what i was doing ever before..." i said. "dash i have to do this... but you need to know i'm doing this to make you happy... to make everyponies lives happy... to make everything the way it used to be."

"crimson i hope you're right... but please... if you can't fight her, run away... promise me you will run away..."

"dash.." she cut me off.

"please promise me that... promise me you will run away so that i can run after you... and maybe... have a new life someplace else." she said. i just looked at her, she was serious.

"alright dash... i swear to the lord, i will run away if the situation gets out of control. i'll run and i'll bring you and the kids with me... and we can live out of equestria." i said. she just smiled.

"i'm going now." i said.

"what if they see you flying there."

"i'm not flying there." i said. i closed my eyes and concentrated. i thought of the castle and i felt a warmth across my whole body. the warmth vanished and there was a cool breeze. i opened my eyes. i was on the top of the castle, not what i wanted but it works. i bent the light around me and turned invisible. i spread my wings and took off towards the ground. there were guards everywhere. unfortunately for them my tactics have changed. they were using lights to check any shadows for me...fools. i walked over and right to the main door.

i walked over and simply walked through it. easy enough. i kept walking through the main hall and past the large doors into the throne room. it was empty in here except for the princess and twilight sparkle.

"twilight what did you want to talk to me about." said celestia. i was sure she would be able to tell if i was here but she couldn't

"it's about crimson princess." said twi.

"yes what about him."

"well when i saw him he said he had changed and met his... hid God he said."

"oh has he now." said the princess in a sarcastic sort of tone as if she didn't believe a word, she probably didn't

"he felt the same... just like before, and he still had the demon in him... but then he demonstrated his power and..." twilight paused.

"what happened..."asked the princess.

"well i just don't know... the energy i could feel on him was incomparable even..." she paused again.

"even what." said the princess growing slightly annoyed.

"even compared to you... the power he held was unreal and it was gone the second the demonstration ended..."

"are you saying he may have consumed more souls while he was gone." said the princess.

"he would have to have swallowed all of equestria and then some for that power... this came from something else..." twilight paused for a second, the princess was silent too. "princess... can i please go back to ponyville, i miss my friends and i hate doing this to crimson." she said.

wait did she just say she hated doing this to me. was she completely lying before. was she really my friend before. i need to know. i listened closely.

"i hated lying to him about not forgiving him and telling him it's his fault... i couldn't stand it and now i'm sure he hates me." said twilight.

"i know twilight and i intend to fix this... but we have to be careful. removing you from ponyville was necessary to make sure that he doesn't stray too far." said the princess.

"how does that keep him close." twilight said.

"because he will want to follow you here and get answers... now go twilight... he could be here soon." said the princess. twilight bowed and walked over to a door with her head hanging down low. as soon as she was gone i put my eyes on the princess.

she looked over through one of the windows. she looked at the beautiful afternoon sky for a minute, she let out a big sigh and kept staring out.

"oh celestia," she said. "what kind of mess have you made this time." she said. i took that as my cue and stopped the light from bending around me. i was visible again.

"a very impressive mess if any princess." i said. she seemed startled. she looked at me.

"i see you have gotten better at hiding... i didn't even sense your presence... how long have you been here." she asked.

"i heard everything that you and twilight said." i said, her eyes widened. "and i must say princess i'm a little disappointed in you... if you don't mind me asking what the big deal is to cause such... oh what's the word i'm looking for."

"civil restraint." she said.

"i was thinking more of unnecessary meddling." i said. "so tell me princess was that letter true, or was it a 'fabrication'" i said with air quotes. "would you really fight me... despite everything twilight has told you." i said "because i know twilight, she is my best friend and she doesn't lie when she isn't being forced to." i said.

"was that i direct challenge to the princess."

"i thought of it more as an inviting question." i said. "so princess i'm in you're castle... attack me." i said. she stood up and i walked forward.

"you are brave... but you're shadows will not withstand the light of the sun." she said.

"we'll see about that." i said.

"i guess we will." she said. her horn glowed, but she was interrupted by a door bursting open. it was twilight.

"princess no wait." she said. celestia's horn stopped glowing and she looked over to twilight."you can't fight him." she said.

"twilight i understand your concern for your friend but." twilight cut her off.

"no princess it's you... you can't fight him he is right... dash sent this letter to me... she has seen him speaking to his god she has even heard and spoke to him... he's not bluffing princess"...i started to laugh.

"princess how can the light of your sun compare to the divine power of god. i'm sorry princess but i have been gifted, and you have no idea the wonders i can do with god's power." i said.

"then prove them." she said. her horn glowed bright and a large beam of light fired from her horn. it covered me and started shaking the room. i felt no pain but instead absorbed her light and changed into my more powerful from, i hardened it into armour and robes. then finally the light stopped.

the princes opened her eyes and she was more than shocked. i looked around and the rest of the throne room was burnt and charred black, the drapes were on fire and the ground was red hot, yet i was fine. i laughed at her hopelessness. i closed my eyes.

when i opened them they glowed bright and a column of light erupted from the ground below me and fired straight through the roof. it started twisting and pulling in any rubble on the ground. i eventually shook the room and tore the roof off of the castle. i watched as the rubble and debris swirled around the column of light.

the princess and twilight stared too. twilight eyes were wide open and full of tears. the princess's eyes were wide open but full of disbelief. the expressions on their faces was absolutely priceless.

soon enough the column started pulling in the clouds, and even the sky. the blue color of the sky started to fade from the center of the light to the outside. i faded and you could see the universe, the planets and stars... it was beautiful. i looked forward and walked from the light.

i spread my wings out and they released a flurry of embers that fluttered around me. the halo above my head became visible once i was out of the light. every step i took made the ground crack. light shone through the cracks that were behind me and the column of light remained where it was.

i eventually made only yards away from the throne. there i stopped and stared into the eyes of celestia. never before have i seen such uncertainty and the best part was that it was coming from the princess. there was nothing more i could ask but that everything be turned back to normal.

the pillar of swirling light behind me faded and swirled into the air. the clouds stopped spinning and the blue hue of the sky slowly returned and filled in the void. the debris fell to the ground and created a pile behind us. as i stood in one place the cracks of light on the ground spread through the throne room slowly.

i looked into celestia's eyes and saw an entire field of emotions, awe, sadness, regret, hate, anger, vile despite her stature. she was close to being in the heat of battle and i was already there. she took her eyes from the sky and looked down at me. to say that she was staring at me would be an understatement. she stared through me and around the world and then back at me. i knew not to take her lightly.

this could only end in one way. like the final clash to most stories it all begins with the stare down and then the battle. the battle could only end in one way. one person would win.

****and the other would perish.


	52. Chapter 52: Clash Of The Titans

**this is it the final battle. the thing that everyone has been waiting for. there was nothing anypony could have done to prevent this and there is nothing now that can stop it from happening. ever since crimson had been possessed by that demon from the guitar after winter wrap up, a secret plan was put in place by the princess. everything that has happened after that only helped to build up to this point. the ultimate battle between two of equestria's greatest powers...who will prevail.**

"we both know how this is going to end." said the princess. she had determination in her eyes. she was ready, she had been planning for this day. but she didn't know how far i had come.

"i've come a great distance since when we've first met princess... don't do this." i asked. i didn't want this to happen but i knew it would, there was no avoiding it.

"i must to protect equestria." she said. she held her head up to the sky and her horn glowed. she was ready to attack. i concentrated all of my power to firing back. we were both charging our attacks and we could only see who's was going to prevail.

almost as if planned we both fired a strong beam of light. she fired it from her horn with a grunt and it shot towards me. i let out a roar and a ball of light spun in front of me that as well shot a great beam of light. the two energies clashed and reacted in the center.

both attacks were light, but vastly different. she fired the light of the sun while i used the light of god. i looked and saw the symbols on my body glowing brightly. this was not going to be an easy battle. i looked to the ground and cracks started ripping through the stone.

the sky above us started to glow brighter and brighter as if the whole world were covered in light. soon it was so bright that it covered everything. the clash of both our energies created a quake and a low rumble throughout the kingdom. i felt the princess push harder and slowly force my power back. i concentrated harder and grit my teeth. soon the blasts were equal again.

the condition of the castle worsened and the cracks on the ground and walls got larger. the cracks let light shine through holes as they grew larger. soon enough chunks of wall and pillars started falling lose. but instead of crashing to the ground they broke of and started floating around. i could feel the ground under me shatter and rise. i was in the air on a chunk of floating rock.

the princess's throne broke from the ground and she rose with it. she rose to my height and we both kept our beams of light strong. i strained harder and grew brighter and pushed my beam of light closer to the princess. she was struggling and had to give it her all to push the light back to the center. i watched as the princess closed her eyes tight.

when she opened them they were glowing bright. i watched in amazement as symbols carved through and around her body. unlike mine they were curved and elegant. mine were rough and jagged with points and edges. hers were rounded and smooth. this came as a surprise to me. they spiraled up and touched to the tip of her horn. i felt then her blast grow stronger.

she was pushing back hard. i strained again and felt a great pain over my body. i looked to the the symbols stretching and connecting. i had started to grow unstable and lightning shot from my body. the castle around us had broken. there was nothing but flying chunks of cement and ornaments. the lightning fired from my body and hit the chunks causing them to break further.

i let out a fearsome roar and the strength of my beam increased pushing just passed the middle towards the princess. it stayed there and i saw the princess was showing her teeth. she was giving it her all and so was i. it was only a matter of who could go the furthest. i looked around and saw there was no more ground or canterlot. there was just a swirling mass of light that had surrounded us.

i could feel my body start to cramp up and weaken but i pulled through and stood strong. i could feel the force of the blast start to push me back. i flexed out my wings and they sent out a flurry of sparks. my wings were twice the size and completely created from light. i used them to keep myself from being pushed away. i stood my ground.

the blast of light in the center roared with power and grew larger and brighter. the debris around us was swirling around and a large breeze picked up and blew against my side. i grit my teeth and pushed harder. i could feel my body cramp up again and i had to bend down. the princess's beam pushed forward but i got back up and stopped it from moving further.

the princess cringed and her back leg started to give out. she leaned back to restrain the pain and in her effort her concentration fell. my side of the beam started pushing forward. but she got back up and pushed back. she too let out a battle cry. it radiated through the area. she was fierce.

the continuous explosion between our two blasts in the middle was growing brighter and larger. small chunks of the castle that floated into it were destroyed completely. it was growing bright and unstable. it was dripping with light. i looked and saw the princess was growing unstable too and she was flashing with beams of light firing off from the symbols on her body.

i was growing unstable too. without any other method of releasing energy my body simply spewed it out. i watched as bright glowing liquid gushed from the cracks in my body like blood flowing from an open wound. it fell to the ground and burned right through. if we kept this up we would destroy ourselves before the blast of our attacks could.

i put everything i could into the blast and prayed for more to use. the princess did too. the blast in the middle sparked and shot lightning. the world around us was a swirling vortex of light and rubble. soon it was too much. the energy in the middle became unstable and exploded. both of our concentrations broke and we were covered in the explosion.

i felt myself falling and hitting various objects on my way down. i could not see however. i was blinded by the light. i felt sharp pains all around me. both on the inside and outside. i hit several objects until i fell to a shattering stop that sent a pain through my entire body. i yelled in pain but i was silenced soon after.

i felt an incredible weight crush my body. i felt the weight increase and the pain around me as well. soon the blinding light faded and there was black. i just relaxed and fell to sleep.

i woke up suddenly with and urge of power. i let out a large roar and the weight on top of me was thrown off in a blast of light. i tried to stand but everything was hurting. i used my magic to pick up my body and set it up right. i used my magic as well to move and support my legs. as my vision slowly returned i looked around at the horrible disaster that had befallen us.

the entire castle had been destroyed and it fell down from the mountainside. i looked up at the mountain to see the large chunk of canterlot missing. the sky above it was black with dark clouds and here i was at the bottom of the mountain in the wreckage. i looked across to see the throne.

on the throne was the princess beaten and defeated she laid there waiting to accept her fate. it was in that heat of battle that i used what little strength i had left to summon a sword of light. i used my last bit of strength to pick myself up and carry myself over to her. every bone in my body was shattered and i was covered in wounds and gashes. so was the princess.

i made it to the throne and walked up the steps. i walked over and stood above the princess. she opened her eyes and looked at me. i held the sword above her but she was calm. she was ready to accept her fate and move on. she was one of the bravest beings i've ever seen to accept losing everything she had.

"i guess you were right." she said. she coughed once and blood flew from her mouth. "you have come a long way... you're... god is truly all powerful." she said. she closed her eyes. "finish what you have started." she opened her eyes one last time to see what was coming

i held up the sword high above her. i looked into her eyes. i could see everything. the thrill of battle had washed away and now she was showing her true colors. i could see everything in her eyes.

the fear...

the regret...

the sorrow...

and i saw everything she could have done to prevent this. i could see her watching her life flash before her eyes and i saw a glimpse of who she really was. i thrust the sword down and she closed her eyes...

she opened again to see i had plunged the sword into the ground. i let it go and it burst in a cloud of sparkling dust. i fell to my knees and leaned over her. i saw as a trail of tears lead from her eyes and flowed onto the ground. i did the same and we silently wept.

"princess... what have we done." i said. "we both did what we could to protect the ones we care about. but that only lead us to fight each other... and in fighting each other we only hurt the ones we love..." i said.

she closed her eyes and the trail of tears continued to flow from her eyes. she knew as well as i the mistakes we have made. i knew and she knew that we had both fucked everything up. we were fools.

"we shouldn't fight... we never should have fought and... and i'm sorry." i said.

"you're right." she said. "our differences lead us to this... and now in this moment here we are left to die." she said.

"no princess... i will not let us die... i've made so many promises to all the ponies that i love and care for that i would make it right... and now i'm going to do that." i said.

i used all of my energy to summon my cross to my side. it appeased in a burst of light and i grabbed it. i held it over me and the princess and i prayed out loud.

"god hear my prayer and shine your light upon me and the princess...for our souls are lost." i prayed. a great light shone from the sky and warmed the both of us. the princess opened her eyes and looked up in awe.

"i hear your prayer... and i know you're strenght." said the lord. celestia looked up in awe and disbelief. "you have proven yourself strong not only of body, but of heart, mind, and spirit... you are a true saint." said the lord. i smiled.

the light grew brighter and i felt myself returning to strength. i could even see on the princess her wounds had started to heal and she was coming to life. i offered my hoof to her and she grabbed it. i helped her up and she stood beside me. she smiled and put her head on my shoulder. i did the same.

"i apologize as well..." she said "and i want to thank you not for sparing me... but for being strong enough to spare me... after all we have done to each other i would not blame you for striking me down." she pulled her head away and looked at me.

"princess if i had killed you i never would have been able to live with myself... the guilt would have killed me eventually." i said. "we should not fight anymore... maybe we can just be friends again." i said. she smiled and nodded yes.

"of course... and i would like to publicly apologize for what i have done."she said.

"i would like to as well." i said. we smiled at each other and we both spread our wings. we flew up the mountain together and passed the destruction we both caused. we both landed down near where the main gait of the castle used to stand

we were surrounded by guards who immediately went to attack me. the princess stood in front of me and they stopped. without moving or saying anything they went away. soon the entire area was full of ponies blurting out questions relentlessly. the princess raised a hoof and they were all quiet.

"i know what just happened was very shocking... but i am ready to explain." she said. " i have been a fool... my lack of trust and an intense feeling of paranoia have caused all of this to happen... it is my fault that this has happened." she said. i stepped forward and interrupted her.

"it is my fault as well." i said. i looked through the crowd and saw my friends... how could they have gotten here so fast. "the princess was merely watching me just incase i grew unstable and started hurting innocent ponies. she had every right to do what she did." i said

"but crimson the fault is also mine." said the princess, but i stopped her.

"the fault is more mine." i said. "i was warned time and time again by the ponies i love and care about to be careful, but i wasn't. i grew more and more curious about my power and stumbled across things i never should have known... and against my better judgement i turned into a monster."

"but it was i who drove him to that." said the princess. "i put too much pressure on him and only pushed him away. i was foolish to think that anypony as pure as crimson blast could commit such evil." said the princess. i cut her off again.

"but i did... and i knew what i had done... so i ran." i said. "i ran into the forest and there i was tempted to commit an act of ultimate evil again and again, pushing me closer to becoming a monster... but i pulled away. i ventured into a wasteland and was stranded there caught by a storm... but it was there that i reflected on my evil and found the light of a god." i said.

the sky around us light up. i knew that god was watching over this. i felt the light glow brighter and the entire district of canterlot looked up at the great light shining on them. they were in the presence of god.

"be at peace with my voice children of the light." said the lord. "behold before you stands an angel of god pure of heart, mind, and soul." i didn't think he would announce himself like this. "in his wake he will trail light and hope. stride beside him and before you he will perform great wonders." said the lord.

i felt the light flow around me. i started to glow a pure golden light from my symbols and the ground beneath me glowed as well. my wings spread out and they were forged from light. the halo glowed around my head and i stood before the mass of ponies an angel of god... who would have thought.

many months ago i was some kind of demon. and from then without knowing it i had been enemies with celestia. and that hatred grew between us without me even knowing it as i grew stronger. but as i grew stronger i was being pulled into an evil i did not want to know.

when i finally met that evil it was so terrifying that i ran. but it followed and pulled me closer. only after knowing trues sorrow i turned to god and he shined his light on me. now here i am having just fought the princess and almost having destroyed her. but i didn't. i spared her and now we are appologizing. she stepped in front of me.

"i see now that i should have trusted him... long before we fought he had turned to the light and away from the beast i feared him becoming. and i hope now that he will forgive me. and i hope that all of equestria will forgive me." she said. i walked up besides her.

"i do princess... i forgive you." i said. "and i hope you forgive me too." i said to her. i turned to the crowd of ponies. "and i hope equestria can forgive me as well for almost becoming the monster i was running away from... and for hurting the only ponies i was trying to protect... i am deeply sorry." i said.

the crowd of ponies started cheering and screaming out names. for a group of ponies from canterlot they were really worked up. i saw the battalion of guards roaring out victory cries and raising their spears. i soon saw my friends standing before me. all of them had tears in their eyes.

dash walked over and gave me the biggest hug i had ever gotten. she cried over my shoulder and the rest of them jumped on me and i fell to the ground. they were all feeling the same thing. i knew i had finally done what needed to be done and everything was going to be alright now.

they got off of me and i stood up. i looked at them and then i looked over the crowd of ponies. i looked back to the princess who stood there smiling. i smiled at her, at the crowd, and at my friends... everything is going to be alright now.

we spent the next three hours celebrating in that one place but when the celebration died out everypony returned to canterlot and it was just me my friends and the princess. i looked over to my friends.

"i'm sorry about everything that happened... if i had known this would have happened i could have fixed it much sooner and this never would have happened." i said.

"there was nothing you could do." said dash standing next to me. she gave me a kiss on the cheek. "i'm just happy that nopony had to be killed." she said.

"yes... i should mention that crimson blast was the one to emerge victorious." said the princess. "he had the chance to strike me down... but he was stronger than that and cast his sword away... for that i am truly grateful." said the princess. she smiled at me and dash hugged me harder.

"i knew you were going to make everything right eventually." said dash. i smiled.

"you did a good job... and i'm sorry about all that i've done too." said twilight. "i should have been more cautious... and i shouldn't have lied to you... i'm just glad that when you said goodbye to me the other day that it wasn't really our last goodbye." said twilight.

"and i'm sorry for making you go through that twilight... i was blinded by my own intentions i didn't see that you were hurting." said the princess

"that's alright princess... although i did have my doubts about your plans... i knew they were for a good cause." said twilight.

"so you really have come a long way haven't ya." said applejack.

"he certainly has." said rarity. "i remember the day he bought the guitar that started this all... who would have thought."

"i never really thought you had become so amazingly powerful... it's a lot to keep track of." said pinkie.

"i'm just glad it's over..." i said. "even though the demon will be a part of my soul forever, the light of god will keep him silenced." i said.

"i swear man you've done some crazy shit." said derek "an angel of god... fucking hell." he said , i smiled. "and when he announced you like that i almost shit myself." he said.

"you guys really have a high opinion over him." said twilight.

"god is everything... literally," i said. "he created the earth and the creatures and all of man in his image... he watches over us and performs his miracles every day..."i said.

"his power is not to be taken lightly" said the princess. "if that was god's power you fought with then i would agree that he is a powerful being beyond even my comprehension." said the princess. we all laughed quietly.

"so what happens now." asked dash.

"i'm not sure." i said. "usually after i finish a big adventure we go home and sleep. then we wait for the next big adventure... but after something like this... i just don't know." i said.

"hopefully you will go back to adventuring." said the princess. "you are good at it. both you and your other human friend there. not to mention the mare that tags along with you." she said.

"you mean roseluck." said derek "she comes with us because she likes to see the sights and watch the action. and because she's always wanted to be an adventurer she knows everything there is to know about the dungeons and monsters." he said.

"she is quite handy..." i said. "but what about you princess... i'm uh... sorry about the castle." i said.

"do not worry..." she said. "i've got my best mages working on it now... it'll be back up before midnight." she said. she smiled at me and i did the same.

"so do we just go home now." asked applejack.

"well there is no other place to go." i said. "i guess... we just go back home... and wait for the next adventure." i said.

and that's exactly what we did. we returned home to ponyville. i was quickly met by the town and celebrated as not just a local hero anymore but a hero of equestria. it didn't make sense since i practically fought and almost killed the princess and destroyed her castle... but these things have a funny way of happening.

so we went home and i greeted my loving family. i made up with scootaloo and apologized. she was so happy to see me and i saw dawn too. i made dinner like usual and i put the kids to bed. i went to bed myself and laid down next to rainbow dash.

"so what's tomorrow's big adventure going to be." she asked.

"i don't know." i said. "but whatever it is i'm sure of one thing... i am strong now, i will prevail and i will return to you healthy and my friends alive." i said.

"is that a promise." she asked me.

"that is a promise i would sell my soul to keep." i said. she smiled and gave me a big kiss right on the lips. we made out and hugged for a while until she got tired and nuzzled her head against my chest. i laid there in my bed thinking about what had happened today.

this day today was the day my life truly changed forever. tomorrow was a new day and i was going to do great things. like god said, i am his angel and before me i will perform great wonders. amd god is always right. so i closed my eyes and started to dream.

****tomorrow is a new day.


	53. Chapter 53: A New Day

**-Warning-**

the following chapter is full of sexual scenes... i apologize for any persons or bronies offended or disgusted while reading this chapter

-you have been warned-

i woke up the next morning like it was a new day. i went to the bathroom and washed up then i went downstairs and made myself some coffee. i drank my coffee and dash walked down the stairs soon after. she gave me a kiss and poured herself a cup of coffee too.

i made some breakfast and soon enough the whole family was up. dash went and got dawn and put her in her high chair. scootaloo sat down and i passed her some eggs and toast. she gobbled them down and i passed out food to the others.

"so scootaloo hows school been." i asked.

"it's been good dad, pretty boring though... i wish they taught us how to be adventurers like you and thunder rush." she said getting excited. i laughed.

"you don't want to rush into that kind of stuff baby alright... promise me you won't go running off into the woods with your friends." i said looking at her.

"alright dad i promise." she said. she looked over at the clock and hopped down off the table. "i need to go... bye dad bye mom i love you." she said and then she bolted out the door. i smiled and finished my food.

i got up and walked over to dash.

"so what are you going to do today." i said.

"oh i don't know..."she replied. "maybe take dawn over to twilight's and have a nice talk or something." she said. she let out a sigh. "these adventures you keep talking about sound pretty fun... maybe you could let me go with you one day." she said.

"sure you can come with me... but i'm not sure if i want to do that today... i think i'm just going to relax today... maybe fly around a bit... rest in the park... and later today you and me can go see the sunset like we used to." i said gently kissing her on the neck. she smiled.

"that sounds nice." she said. i worked my way up her neck and kissed her on the lips. there was a knock on the door and i could hear whispers and voices from outside.

"i'll get that." i said. i walked over to the door and pulled it open. i looked outside to see an entire wave of ponies covering my house. they all started acting up and shouting when they saw me. i quickly closed the door behind me before they all decided to burst through and flood my house.

"who was that." asked dash walking out of the kitchen.

"all of ponyville." i said with a worried look on my face.

"well what do they want" she asked.

"ME" i said.

"well you can't go out there... those crazed ponies will tear you apart." she said. "oh...go out the back." she said.

"yeah..."i agreed "i'll spend some time in the woods today... maybe just wander around." i said getting off the door and over to dash. i gave her another kiss and grabbed my things. "you be careful too... they might come after you as well if they can't find me." i said.

"don't worry i'll be fine...you have fun." she said. i pushed open the back door and ran out. lucky for me they haven't discovered that i have a backyard yet. i quickly headed out into the woods from my yard. i ran for a few minutes so nopony could see me just incase. after that i slowed down to a walk.

the everfree forest was very peaceful today. the cracks of light that shone through the shub above me and it was bright enough to actually see in front of me. it was beautiful. i walked around and eventually came onto the stone with the cross on it. it was surrounded in light.

i walked over and bent down over it. in my head i quietly thanked god for all he has done to help me in my time of need. after i finished there was a small breeze. it left just as quickly as it came however. i looked up into the sky and smiled. i got up and continued to walk.

i walked for at least an hour. i took in the beauty of it all. this place used to be dark and horrid. but i think the light of god has shown this place to be a beautiful forest. i'm not sure if the whole everfree is like this or if the evil inside it is gone but it looks peaceful.

eventually i could see a clearing in the trees in front of me. i continued to walk and i passed the clearing into a grassy field. the grass was tall and all the way up to my stomach. as i walked it tickled my chest and stomach and it made me smile. i looked over the grass to see a large glistening lake. it looked beautiful.

i walked past the grass and onto the sand shore of the lake. i looked over it but it was dark. i tried to see past it and find any kind of fish or something but there weren't any that i could see. i walked closer and i dipped my hoof into the water.

the water started growing clearer and clearer. i stood and stared in amazement as the darkness of the water faded away to show the lake and everything in it. the water was so clear you could see all the way to the bottom.

i could see all of the little fish swimming around in the water and the seaweed at the bottom that swayed side to side. i took another step closer and placed my other hoof into the water. there was a glow at the bottom of the lake.

large crystals that were hiding amongst the coral and seaweed now started to shine and shimmer. they lit up the bottom on the lake. i stood there and watched the whole thing. the lake was also pretty warm too. it was just a bit above the temperature outside which seemed strange. i took my hooves out of the water and the crystals stopped glowing. the water stayed clear however.

i turned around and went back into the grass. i laid down and the grass made an excellent cushion. i rested my head on my hooves and stared up at the sky. i closed my eyes and let the warmth of the sun relax my muscles.

i stayed there for a good amount of time, and relaxed. i opened my eyes and looked over to the lake. there was something about it... drawing me closer. i stood up. i could feel something calling me but there was no sound or anything. it was just luring me over. and against my better judgement i walked over.

i walked to the shore and stuck my two hooves in and the crystals started glowing at the bottom. i could feel a sort of vibration on the ground. i listened closely and i could hear a very faint humming coming from the water. i was curious so i walked further in before there was a large drop to the floor of the lake. sort of like a hole almost just dropping into the ground.

i was up to my stomach in the water. i stuck my head in and looked around. when the water hit my ears they were filled with the most beautiful sound ever. the faint humming turned into a gorgeous and vibrant ringing that shot through the entire lake.

it started to sound like a song as the frequency of the ringing changed frequently it seemed to play a song. it sounded so lovely i sat there with my head in the water and listened to it. i closed my eyes and smiled. the music sounded so lovely that i forgot i needed to breath. i could feel my body strain for air and i pulled my head out of the water and gasped for air. i took a second to catch my breath.

i backed out of the water and walked over to my bags. i opened them up and took out a bottle. it was a bottle of underwater breathing. there wasn't much left... i don't remember ever using this. there was probably a reason though. i labeled the bottle to tell me how much time this would give me.

just a little sip from this bottle and i could stay under for about 3 hours. i opened the top and went to take a drink but i stopped. i thought about it for a second but i couldn't see anything wrong with this. but just incase i'll drink up the rest of the bottle which gives me enough breath for 2 days... probably a bit excessive but whatever... this isn't something you can overdose on.

i drank up and felt a tight pain in my chest. it worked it's way up through my neck and into my mouth. i think it worked. i walked over to the water and stepped in. it was nice and warm. and the water was so clear i could see right through it. i put my head in and took a deep breath. it worked i could breath underwater.

i listened closely and the faint humming from before started to pick up and the song started playing again. i walked in further until i could see the drop to the lake floor. i jumped down and gently floated to the bottom. i hit the ground and started walking along the seaweed. it felt slimy against my fur but i liked it.

the water was still warm and the ringing sound from the lake made me smile. i walked along the floor, over to one of the giant glowing crystals and as i neared it the ringing grew louder. it was the crystals making this song. i reached my hoof out and touched the crystal. it shined brightly and started changing colors. it looked like a rainbow and soon the other crystals started to fade different colors as well. i stepped back and watched as they lit up the entire lake. i swam up and just swam around with some of the fish. i used my wings to swim.

this place was wonderful. i need to make some more underwater breath potions and show dash this place. it's great. the water is warm. this sound the crystals are making is beautifully vibrant and thrilling... and the flashing crystals make a nice ambience.

this place was beautiful. i floated back down to the lake floor and walked around. it was a bit difficult to walk on the ground underwater but i did it slowly. it was a nice steady pace. i took another step and there was nothing underneath my foot and i fell forward.

i caught myself though since you don't fall fast underwater. i brushed away some of the seaweed and coral. i saw a small hole in the ground. just big enough for a pony to fit through. i pushed on it and it grew larger. soon the ground around me gave in and i swam up. the ground fell and there was a medium sized hole in the ground. it went into some kind of cave.

i swam down to the hole and swam through. it was certainly a cave. it was still full of the glowing and singing crystals. i swam onward through the cave. it thought it would be much larger but it was just a straight shot. i saw a dead end at the very end of the cave. when i reached it i looked up and saw that the water broke to the surface. i excitedly swam up.

i broke through the water and too a nice breath of land air. i looked around to see that i was still in a large cave. i swam over to the surface and crawled out of the water. there were crystals in this cave but they did not sing. i guess only underwater. but then i heard singing. not like a bell but a voice.

i looked around and saw there were other big pools of water surrounding this one exit pool. i walked around a bit and i kept hearing singing. i would hear someone sing behind me and when i turned there was nothing. i walked over to one of the water pools and looked in.

i was startled to see a human face in the water. it was a woman. she looked up at me and slowly rose. she breached the surface and she wasn't a woman but a mermaid. she was completely naked on the top half so i could see her breasts and then her skin faded to scales and formed a tail. i backed up and she put her arms on the stone ground and looked at me. she had green eyes and brown hair.

"uhm... hello" i said to her not sure if she could speak english.

"it's been a long time since we've seen any kind of life other than merpeople." she said.

"you mean... there are others... not just mermaids." i said.

"well there used to be." she said twiddling her fingers.

"the last merman had died a thousand years ago." she said.

"i...i didn't think merfolk lived that long." i said.

"oh we live a while... and the water keeps us looking young... but those are only looks... we've been stuck in this cave since the great drought." she said.

"are there others than just you." i asked.

"oh yes there are eight others." she said.

"there are nine of you here." i asked.

"yes let me go get them." she said. she dove back down into the water. i looked in but the water here was dark. i stepped back and sat down... i can't believe i just found a mermaid... freaking sweet. and there are nine of them too. i wonder what they do all this time trapped in a cave for thousands of years it must suck... i should probably help them.

there was a splash of water and the brown haired mermaid popped out of the water. there were more splashes and eight more mermaids popped up and swam over. they stared at me in awe.

"oh he's one of those... uh... pony folk that walk the earth." one of them said. she was blonde and had blue eyes.

"i think this one doesn't walk as much as the others look." said a dark haired mermaid "he has wings..." she said.

"i've always wondered what it's like to fly." one mermaid said.

"well it's a lot like swimming really." i replied. they all looked at me. "except instead of one fin we use two wings and you're a lot heavier in air than underwater." i said.

"hey...maybe he can help us." said one of them.

"yeah eris ask him." one said.

"c'mon eris do it." another said.

the mermaid from before swam over and put her arms on the cold stone again. she looked at me and i smiled. it caused the others to giggle and smile as well. they were like a bunch of teenagers, it was cute.

"so i take it you're name is eris" i said.

"yes" said eris. "what is your name." she asked. the other mermaids started blurting out questions like where i'm from and what it's like there. eris quieted them down though.

"well my name is crimson blast and i am a pegasus pony from ponyville" i said. "it actually is not far from here... took me about an hour to walk from my house and through the woods until i got to this place." i said one of them interrupted me.

"what is a woods." she said.

"do you know what a tree is." i asked the same mermaid.

"uhm...no." she said.

"then there's no way i can easily explain it to you... but i'm guessing you want me to help you out of this cave." i said.

"yes if that wouldn't be too hard." said eris.

"what was keeping you girls from getting out yourselves." i said.

"the dry land there." she said pointing to the gap of dry land between here and the exit... there was quite a bit. "mermaids can't move easily out of water... most often not at all... we've already lost a few friends from them trying to leave." she said pointing to a few skeletons of merfolk lying strewn across the ground. i didn't notice those before.

"i think i can help." i said. i walked away and focused all my energy to creating light around me. i stomped on the ground and a huge crack spread to the exit and to the pool of water were the mermaids were. they backed away in fear but kept their heads above the water so they could see. the crack grew larger and wider. is ripped the cave floor apart until water from both sources washed through it and it was wide enough to fit a pony through.

the nine mermaids smiled and quickly swam up the gap and into the exit pool of water. eris stopped while the others dived under to go to the lake. she smiled at me and i smiled back.

"thank you for saving us." she said.

"not a problem... i love helping." i said.

"there is one more thing we do need help with." she said. "come with me." i dropped into the water and my ears were filled with the music of the crystals again. she beckoned me to follow her. i swam forward using my wings. i could still breathe under water. i was not as fast as her since she was built to swim. she swam so elegantly and with grace. i tried my best but i looked nowhere as good as she did at swimming.

she looked back to notice i was far behind her. she smiled and swam back over. she grabbed one of my hooves and pulled me through the water to the other side and out of that cave. the other mermaids were swimming around and having fun. when they saw me they rushed over. eris looked at me but she seemed confused.

"you don't have gills." she said checking my head. "how can you breathe... oh gosh do you need air." she said. i laughed.

"no it's fine" i said. it was actually easy to say things underwater. since my throat and lungs were already full of water. "i used a magic potion that lets me breath underwater for two days." i said.

"then you don't mind helping us out with one more thing." said the mermaid.

"what do you need." i asked.

"well since the last merman died a while ago... that left us with some... population issues." she said. the others started closing in on me. my eyes widened and i figured out what she meant.

"i really don't think so." i said swimming away. they quickly caught up with me and grabbed me. "let go..." i said struggling "you can't do this i'm married." i said they didn't listen. one of them grabbed my underside and rubbed away until i was rock hard. i struggled to get loose but they were surprisingly strong.

they dragged me down to the lake floor and surrounded me. one of them started to lick her tongue up and down my shaft. soon others joined in. i couldn't use my powers because they didn't deserve to be hurt.

one of them swam above me. i'm not even sure how this would work because she has a tail and everything. but i was wrong. her tail seemed to split into smaller leg like tail appendages and it gave view to her lower parts.

i struggled some more and she slowly guided my cock over to her pussy and pushed it in. she rode me for a while until i came in her. she smiled and swam off and then the next one swam over and had her turn.

mermaid after mermaid swam on top of me and had her way. they held me down and toyed with me when they weren't on top of me. they didn't even stop with one go but just kept using me. they said it had been so long since they felt the touch of a man. i kept yelling and shouting but to shut me up they just planted their pussies over my snout and took turns with that.

after the next mermaid stopped a familiar turn took her turn on top of me...again. eris slowly guided my cock over to her lower lips and slowly pushed them apart to make room for my penis. she let the whole thing inside and stopped for a second to take it in before having her fun.

the other mermaids around me were either rubbing themselves or making out if they weren't riding me or had face planted between their legs. it was just one big clusterfuck. eventually they got tired of holding me and tied my hooves to the ground with tons of seaweed. you would think it's just seaweed but that shits strong man.

i was completely out of energy to fight back at this point so i just laid there and let eris have her fun. the only thing i could do was try and hold in my orgasm to try and deny them the satisfaction. but they rode me anyway. i felt the pressure in my groin build i tried to hold it in but i gave in and shot my load straight into eris. she smiled and pulled herself off and swam over to my face while the mermaid on top of me finished and a new one took her place on my cock.

eric smiled and planted her pussy right over my snout. she shook it around and i admitted defeat. i started to use my tongue to pleasure her so that maybe i could end this sooner. it tasted horrible, it was salty and fishy. it tasted like sushi...i hate sushi. the only food i ever eat raw are vegetables and fruit. so this was really bad for my taste buds. plus after having just gotten off of me she was also full of my spunk. the whole thing was a mess. but after awhile she finally got off and shot her juices into my face and into my mouth. it was disgusting. she swam off and i new mermaid took her place.

i felt a pressure build up in me and i blew my load into the mermaid riding my cock. she got off and a new one hoped on. this continued for god knows how long. but it felt like hours and hours. eventually i couldn't take it anymore and i passed out from the sexual exhaustion.

i woke up later to find myself on the shore of the lake. i looked next to me and saw a small gem laying on the ground. i immediately recognized it to be one of the underwater gems. i got up and cleared my mind. i can't believe i was just brutally raped by nine mermaids. i don't think any other pony would complain... and i can't either.

i brushed the sand stuck to my wet fur and grabbed the crystal and threw it in my bags. i looked up at the sky and it was almost sunset. i slung my bags over my back and headed back into the woods. i don't think i'll ever come here again.

so lets see i woke up at like 7 and left around then. took me an hour to find this place and another to jump in the water and go swimming. after a while of intense math i came to the conclusion that around 11 in the morning they jumped me and had their way...my guess is that it's about 8 at night right now. for nine hours... nine hours. and my fur is still sopping wet so they probably just recently threw me out of the water.

i walked through the woods for a while until i came across the stone with the cross on it. i was close. i kept walking and a few minutes later i found my own back door. i walked up to it and pushed it open. i leaned against the door dripping wet and covered in seaweed. i saw dash in the living room with baby dawn. she looked over at me worried. she rushed over.

"are you alright you've been gone all day... what happened." she asked.

"fucking... mermaids." those were the only words to escape my mouth.

"mermaids." said dash.

"i never should have helped them out of that cave." i said staring off slightly traumatized by my whole experience.

"calm down and tell me what happened." she said.

"well i found a lake in the forest. it had these wonderful glowing crystals in it that rung like bells underwater and made a tune... it was beautiful so i drank up on some underwater breath potion and went for a swim. then i found a cave." i said.

"and there were mermaids in this cave." said dash.

"well yes the underwater cave surfaced into an above water cave. there were pools of water in there and in there were the mermaids." i said. she nodded her head.

"alright keep going then what happened." she asked.

"so these nine mermaids told me that they've been stuck in this cave for a long time... so being the way i am i decide to help them. i use my powers to open a crack in the ground and let them swim through it. so they swim through and into the lake. and one of them says she needs my help with something else."

"so what did they need." said dash.

"well i got to the lake with them and they all surrounded me and then... they... uhh...well they..." i stopped because i didn't know how to break this to dash. she looked at me but i avoided eye contact. i looked at her once and her eyes widened.

"oh... holy shit... they, they uh." she said murmuring. i finished her sentence for her.

"had their way with me...yeah... i'm sorry dash... but they were too strong and i didn't want to use my magic to hurt them." i said.

"no no..." she said hugging me. i was still wet, "i don't blame you... i know you still love me and it wasn't your fault... it's fine i'm not upset." she said.

"your not..." i asked.

"well i am a little but i'm not mad at you." she said. "it's not your fault... besides let's be honest it couldn't have been a mortifying experience." she said smiling. i blushed and she giggled. "just as long as you make it up to me." she said winking at me. i smiled.

"i'll make it up dash... i promise." i said. "even if it takes me all night." she blushed and walked into the other room.

"take a shower first... you smell like a dead fish." she said. i laughed and walked to the stairs

"where's scootaloo." i asked.

"she's at apple bloom's house so we've got the house to ourselves tonight." she said. i smiled and headed upstairs. i took a shower and washed up. i drank like a gallon of water to wash the taste of mermaid out of my mouth. after i washed up and dried off i headed into the bedroom. i walked in to see dash laying seductively across the bed with a sexy smile on her face. i smiled too.

"oh no..." i said. jumping on her. "a sexy beast has eaten my wife and is here to have her way with me." i said to dash. she just laughed. she like it when i play like this.

"i'm going to drain the life from you... one orgasm at a time." she said laughing and blushing. i grabbed her with all four hooves and held her on top of me.

"well monster i will have you know that i am relentless...do you're worse." i said. she smiled and turned around. she started rubbing her hoof on my underside and i gently massaged her pussy. she smiled and i did too. she gave me a big kiss before turning around and showing me her rear.

i gave her pussy a little kiss and she shivered. she stroked her tongue up my cock slowly from the base and i shivered too. she licked the tip and put it in her mouth. she slowly made her way down. she managed to make it all the way down. i brought my face closer to her pussy and pushed my snout in. i started to lap away at her inner walls.

it was nice to taste dashes juices instead of mermaid juice. i lapped hungrily at them and she started secreting more. she let out little moans that were drowned out by the wet sounds of her sucking me off. i felt a pressure build up slowly in my groin. dash was always the best at this. i could tell dash was close because she started bucking her hips against my face so i licked harder.

she let out a big moan through my cock and then splashed juices all over my face and filled my mouth with them. i swallowed and pulled my snout from her pussy. that set me off and i shot my load right down her throat. it was too much and some of it spilled out of her mouth. she waited for it to stop and pulled my cock from her mouth. she cleaned up the mess with her mouth and turned around to face me.

she smiled and gave me a big kiss. she ended up pushing most of the jizz covering the walls of her mouth over to mine but i didn't mind. she guided my cock over to her pussy and slowly brought it inside her vagina. she let out a moan and rested on top of me.

"are you sure this is safe." she said.

"yeah i know a natural spell that makes me fertile... you're fine." i said. she smiled and took that as a sign to go right ahead. she started bucking her hips up and down on my large stallion hood. she let out a large moan of pleasure. i think she's forgotten how good it was.

i put my hooves on her hips and started to buck my pelvis forward. i started off slow but picked up speed and stayed at a steady pace. she let out loud moans and started breathing heavily. i let out large grunts and low moans of pleasure.

"oh my celestia... i've forgotten how amazing this feels... oh yes, don't stop." she said. her tongue was rolling out the side of her mouth. her from hooves collapsed and she fell on me. i moved my hooves up and hugged her while i kept bucking my hips. i felt a pressure build up and i released my load into her. she smiled and i let out a low moan.

"oh god yes." i said "oh baby i love you." i said hugging her.

"i love you too..." she said. i rolled her over so that she was on her back and i picked her hind hooves up. i started going again and began bucking my hips. she laid there and enjoyed every moment of it. her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her tongue rolled back out of her mouth.

i closed my eyes and grit my teeth from the pleasure. i could feel the cum inside of her was working as a good natural lubricant and it let me slide in and out easier. i bucked my hips harder and faster and pushed in deeper. she let out a moan and splattered my groin with fem juices along with some of my own already in there.

"ohhh yes...yes" she said. she let out another moan and came again. i smiled. i was on the verge of climax as well. i bucked harder and kept the pace for a few minutes. after a while i finally released my load into her again and she smiled. i pulled my cock from her pussy and let some of the cum drip out. she sat up and grabbed my head. she pushed my head down and into her snout. "now clean up your mess." she said.

i happily obliged and started lapping away. she fell back onto her back and i lapped away at her pussy licking up anything in there. she moaned again and shot her load into my mouth and onto my face. i kept licking however and i was determined to make her happy. i picked up my speed and started licking around the walls of her vagina.

after a while i hit a sweet spot and she came again covering my face and filling my mouth. i swallowed and continued. she however just laid there lost in a deep trance of ecstasy. she was only feeling one thing and that was pleasure. she let out another soft moan and came again. but i kept going at her.

"where do... where do you find this energy." she said.

"i've always got the energy to please my loved ones." i said. i put my snout back into her pussy and kept lapping away. she let out a few soft moans and wiggled around.

"oh yes... don't stop." she said. i kept going like she asked and she let out another moan and came again. i'm not sure if i was really good at this or if she just gets off easily... i'd like to think the first. she moaned and smiled and i just kept going at her for what must have been like forever to her. but it was really only like an hour.

she came many times and filled my mouth full of her juices. after a while i couldn't feel my tongue and i pulled out after she came one last time. i crawled over and put her on top of me with her back on my chest. i guided my hoof down to her pussy and started rubbing it. she moaned and came one more time covering the sheets with her juices. i was already hard again. i guided my cock over to her vagina and slowly slid it in.

i bucked my hooves and started to push my cock in and out of her pussy. she let out a continuous moan that filled the room. she was completely lost in a whole new world of pleasure. she had a dumb smile on her face and her tongue was still hanging out of her mouth. i bucked my hips harder and harder and eventually blew my load right into her.

i rested for a second and then started back up again. i bucked my hips against her again and again and she let out another moan and came. that set me off and i blew my load again. i kept going and going like that for hours until i was too tired to keep going. i pushed myself to keep going and i fired off one more load. there was a river of cum flowing from dashes pussy and onto the bed. i guided my hoof down and started massaging her pussy.

i looked at her and she was completely lost. i just laid there and massaged her pussy for the rest of the night. i closed my eyes but the rest of the night i pleasured her. i think i made it up to her. i could feel like she was sleeping but she was completely lost in her world of pleasure.

i massaged her over and over and she kept spurting out her juices over the bed. we were going to need new sheets. that's the thing i love about our love. it's the kind of love that can fight through anything. it's also the kind of love you clean up with a mop and bucket. i stayed awake for a while massaging dashes pussy and just staring at her. eventually i fell asleep but it wasn't until a while later.

i woke up the next day to the horrible mess we made last night. i found my that my hoof was still resting on dashes pussy. i smiled and gave it a little rub to wake her up. her eyes slowly opened and she looked down only to see my hoof rubbing against her pussy. she looked at me and smiled.

"did you keep that up the entire night." she said.

"yeah baby." i said giving her a kiss. "because i love you... besides didn't i say i would make it up even if it took all night." i said. she laughed.

"well you've definitely made it up." she said. she picked her head up but i pulled her back down. "what's wrong." she said.

"i have to warn you that we did make one big mess." i said.

"it can't be that bad." she said. she picked her head up and looked over. she immediately brought her head back down. "maybe it is that bad" she said smiling. i smiled back and kept rubbing my hoof on her pussy. "you can stop that now."

"but i don't want to." i said. i rubbed my hoof up and down harder and faster and she started to moan and bite her lip. she let out a loud moan and shot her juices all over the sheets. i kept rubbing and she closed her eyes. i held her tight so she couldn't get away.

"c'mon crimson." she said laughing. "you can stop now i forgive you." she said. i rubbed harder and she came again. i flipped her over and turned her around until i could see her pussy. "what are you doing now." she said smiling. i licked my tongue up her folds slowly and she let out a moan. then i stuck my snout in and started licking away.

she moaned and writhed in pleasure. i kept licking until she came and filled my mouth. i swallowed and kept lickign away. she decided to return the favor and started stroking my groin until it was rock hard. she licked it a bit and then stuffed it down her throat. i kept licking away and she came again. she slowly massaged my cock with her mouth and i felt a pressure build up. i licked around her clitoris and she came again right in my mouth. that set me off and i blew my load down her throat.

she took it all and kept going... and so did i. i kept massaging her pussy with my tongue and she came right in my mouth and all over my face plenty of times. i only came down her throat like five. after that she couldn't take it anymore and she pulled my cock out of her throat. she fell down on my lower body and laid there while i pleasured her.

i continued to lap away at her insides and she came time and time again. she was lost in her own little world again and i was still focused on making her happy. i don't know why but i felt so bad about what happened i didn't feel like i've fully made it up to her. so i kept licking the insides of her vagina. she moaned over and over and let out little noises every time she came. soon enough her juices started to puddle around my head and my face was soaking wet.

i continued however pleasuring her and she just laid there lost in her world of pleasure. her eyes rolled into the back of her head and i laid there and pleasured her i let her come one more time and then i pulled my face from her vagina.

"i'm going to pleasure you all day." i said. "until school ends and scootaloo comes home."

"oh no." said dash. "i don't think i have that kind of energy in me." she said. i laughed and picked her up.

"c'mon you need to shower." i said. i brought her into the shower and i stepped in with her. i washed her down and then i started to rub her pussy with my hooves. one thing led to another and eventually i was lapping away at her pussy again while she sat on top of me cleaning herself i was pleasuring her.

the shower ended and we went back to the bedroom. basically the whole day was spent with my snout buried in her pussy. she decided to return the favor a few times and get me off by sucking on my dick. but only a few times. the whole day was just about her. it was only about half an hour before school ended that i decided to stop. dash was completely lost in her own world of pleasure. i brought her downstairs to the couch and she laid there while i changed the sheets. i swapped out the bedding and brought her back upstairs and she passed out. i gave her a little kiss and walked downstairs to meet scootaloo after washing my face off in the bathroom.

"hi dad." said scootaloo opening the door to see me. "wheres mom." she asked.

"mom is feeling a bit sick today." i said. "she's upstairs resting in bed."

"is she going to be alright." asked scoots.

"oh don't worry she'll be fine." i said.

"alright." she said. "i'm going to play with applebloom and sweetie belle at the apple farm." she said running back to the door.

"alright but be home before dark." i said.

"alright dad bye." she said running out the door and joining her friends. i walked into the babies room and carried her out into the living room. i changed her fed her and burped her. after that she started smiling and giggling. i rocked her to sleep and she was out like a light.

it must be good to be a baby and not have to worry about much of anything. i walked her back into her room and placed her gently in her crib. i gave her a kiss and walked out. i closed the door and headed upstairs. i walked into the bedroom and laid down next to dash. i woke her up and she looked at me.

"scootaloo is out with her friends and the baby is asleep." i said. rubbing her arm.

"no more please i can't feel the lower half of my body..." she said smiling. i smiled to and rested my head on her chest.

"you sure." i said.

"yes baby you've done more than enough to prove you're sorry... just please no more... i'm done." she said rubbing my head with her hoof.

"alright." i said. "i'm going to get a drink and get the taste of you out of my mouth." i said. she laughed and i ran into the bathroom. i washed out my mouth for several minutes with hot water and i finally got the taste out of my mouth. i walked back into the bedroom and laid down next to dash. she turned to me and snuggled up to me.

"i'm glad things are returning to normal... or at least as normal as they're going to get." she said. i laughed quietly at that.

"me too baby." i said. "it's good to know that i can relax for a while... the stress has been killing me." i said.

"we too." she said. i hugged her and pulled her tight. "i think we're good on the sex for a while okay babe." she said rubbing my chest.

"are you sure... i mean i could still go if you want." i said smiling and burying my face in her hair.

"please don't i because if you start again i might slip into a sex induced coma." she said. i laughed and gave her a big kiss on the head.

"alright baby... we don't want that to happen." i said. so we just laid there and snuggled for a while. it was nice to just relax. i closed my eyes and hugged my wife tight. she smiled and closed her eyes too.

"i love you so much." i said

"i know"


	54. Chapter 54: Hallow Be Thy Name

i woke up only a few hours later to the sound of a crying baby. i let go of dash and rolled over. i checked outside and it was getting dark outside. we must have been asleep for a while. dash stuck her head up and picked up on the sound.

"i'll get it baby." i said to dash.

"thanks." she said putting her head back down on her pillow. i got up and stretched my arms. i cracked my back and headed to the door.

i walked downstairs and into the babies room. i turned on the light and walked in. she was crying in her little crib. i picked her up and held her. she started to calm down and stopped crying. she still seemed upset though. she doesn't usually just start crying like this... i wonder what's wrong.

i carried her around and started looking around the house. i looked everywhere but there was nothing there. i looked out the front window and saw nothing. but then i turned to the back window. i looked into the forest and it was completely dark inside of it despite the fact it was only 4.

i looked closely and noticed a pair of red eyes. i stared at them and they glared back. i couldn't make out a shape or kind of body but then i noticed another pair... and another. there were pairs of red eyes popping up all over the forest. i quickly ran upstairs with the baby into our room and handed her to dash.

"what's wrong." she asked.

"theres something outside..." i said.

"what... what's outside." she asked grabbing the baby and holding her close. "crimson what's wrong." she said.

"i don't know but i'm taking care of it." i said. "if you hear any kind of strange noise in the house i want you to get out through this window and fly away with the baby and find scootaloo." i said. she nodded her head and i went back down the stairs.

i walked downstairs and into the living room. i looked out the back window to see the pairs of red eyes were all gone. the forest was still dark. i geared up and started glowing with holy armour and light all around me. i opened the door and closed it behind me and locked it. i walked forward towards the woods.

"whoever or whatever is out there... i'm warning you now... if you threaten my family you will suffer my wrath." i said using my light to cast up a few tentacles beside me. there was only a bit of snarling and growls from the woods. the eyes appeared again.

i watched as one pair of eyes moved forward and gave view to it's body. it was a wolf... there were at least fifty of them. the wolf walked forward and started snarling at me. i knew how wolves worked it was trying to claim this territory for the pack. if i backed away now they would only attack. well the only way they wouldn't attack was if i had more ponies with me that outnumbered their pack. but since i was alone i knew that i would have to fight off these wolves.

he started snarling and showing his teeth. i did the same. me barked at me and i barked back causing him to jump back. he howled and so did the other wolves. he lunged out at me but i stuck him with a tentacle. he whimpered and fell to the ground dead. the other wolves walked in from the shadows and snarled at me.

they ran up to me and started biting and clawing away at me. i managed to get a few before they got to me but there were too many i couldn't hold them all off forever. one of the rushed over and bit into my leg. i yelled out in pain and sliced him with my light. another and another rushed over and bit into me as well. they soon piled onto me and all sunk their teeth into me.

they started tearing away at my skin. i would use my light to kill one but then another took it's place. i felt teeth sink into my neck and i immediately removed the wolf biting my neck. in a spectacle of pure power i managed to create a shock wave that threw all of the wolves off of me.

i lashed out my light tentacles and killed as many as i could. i wen't to fly into the air so they couldn't get me but one wolf jumped up and grabbed my wing with his teeth. i yelled in pain and he threw me to the ground. soon i was covered in wolves again. i shut my eyes and made a loud roar. spike os light jet out from my body and pierced the wolves around me. i looked around at the blood soaked green in my backyard. there were still plenty of wolves. this was a very large pack of wolves.

more of them ran out after me and swarmed me again. i fought them off and killed all of them. one of them bit into my hind leg and i could feel the ligaments in my leg snap. i fell to the ground completely unable to use my back right leg. i yelled out in pain and killed the wolf with a wave of light. i lashed out violently and dropped the rest of the wolves around me.

there were still other wolves but they were smart. they backed away and ran back into the forest to live another day. i looked across the yard and there was blood and wolf carcasses everywhere. i remember in indigo city how kroger and hrothar used to warn me about wolf pack all the time. he always said to be careful around them.

one wolf alone is an easy kill but if there are three or more wolves working together in a pack they could bring down an entire dragon. wolves were not like most animals that hunt on their own. they hunt in pack or families. they are deadly and often get their prey. they're smart too, natures natural born hunters. they could sniff out a meal a mile away and kill it within seconds.

and they communicated with each other too which was very important. they were like a well oiled machine. they were more precise and more organized than the U.S. military. and i know i was in it. that was a tough fight and i'm in a lot of pain right now. my body covered itself in light and i could feel it slowly begin to heal but it wasn't helping much. i quickly limped back to the house and walked inside.

dash immediately ran downstairs to see me. she ran over and she almost dropped the baby when she saw me. she placed the baby down on the couch and ran over to help me sit down myself. she picked the baby back up and sat down next to me.

"holy crap what happened... what was out there." she said.

"freaking wolves... nearly tore me to pieces the tricky bastards." i said smiling. one wolf had gone for my face and almost tore it off. i had to keep my left eye closed because it was damaged.

"we have wolves." dah exclaimed.

"i don't think they will bother us for a while... i killed like 30 of them and they got smart and ran away... but wolves are something else." i said. "we might have to watch out for a while..." i said.

"well what do we do" asked dash.

"i don't know... where's scootaloo." i said.

"she isn't home yet." said dash. i looked over out the window.

"you go and find her go get twilight and thunder rush... tell them i need their help." i said. "i'll stay here incase they come back." i said.

"alright... be careful." she said. i kissed her on the head.

"don't worry... now go." i said. she ran out the door and flew into the air. i used my magic to close the door behind her and turned my attention back to the back yard. i used my magic a pulled a bright light over me and made my armour.

i walked into the back yard and closed the door behind me. some part of me was excited about this and i was secretly hoping that there would be more wolves than just the ones before. there were already wolf corpses scattered across the ground. i just stood there and waited.

"well..." i shouted out into the dark woods hoping to call them to me. "what are you waiting for... you want my house... my blood... come and get me." i shouted. and it worked i could hear a loud howl close by and i could see black figures and red eyes dancing in the tree's.

soon the wolves stepped out of the shadows one by one and i saw that there were more of them... significantly more. there were only about thirty before now there were close to 70 wolves that i could just estimate. i was a little intimidated by their numbers but that's what they wanted to do... scare me.

they slowly pace around the yard and growled at me. i just growled back. one of them started barking and ran for me. i quickly put him down and he died. the others watched and took note almost. soon and without warning they all charged at me five at a time.

i could only manage to fight off so many at a time. they started sinking their teeth into the exposed joints of my armour and legs. fortunately my leg had already healed and i could use it.i managed to put a couple of them down. i lashed out my shadows and sliced about three of them in half.

my armour did a good job of protecting me but the wolves continuously pulled at my armour. eventually some pieces were torn off of me and burst into a cloud of light dust. they were wearing away at my armour. one bit my leg and i fell. they started to chew and bite away at me. i used my hooves to push and punch them off while using my magic to kill them.

they continuously went for my neck but i kept it covered with my hoof. i let out a fierce roar and like before sharp spikes of light jetted out from my body and skewered all the wolves around me. they whimpered and fell to the ground. i barely got to stand up before being attacked again.

one wolf jumped on top of me and tackled me. i kept him off of me but he was biting at my face. i stuck him with a light blade and threw him off me. two more ran after me but i killed them before they could reach me. it was however only a trick because one wolf behind me jumped on me and bit into my neck.

i yelled in pain and threw him off. i ran over while he was on the ground and bucked him right in the face. i felt his head break and he whimpered and whined. another one ran and me and i turned and bucked him in mid air. i felt the cracking of bone under his fur and he whined too. he hit the ground and tried to get up but just fell.

three other wolves ran out. i sent out a wave of spikes that killed two but the third one jumped on me. i threw my arm in front of my face to protect my face and neck and he bit into it. he sunk his teeth in and i yelled in pain. he shook his head rapidly and tore right through my arm and jumped off me. i yelled out in pain.

i clasped my arm in pain and knelt down. i saw the wolves closing in closer. they were snarling and growling. i started glowing brightly and i let out a fearsome roar. the ground broke underneath me and the wolves and spikes of light shot from the ground. i looked around to see that all the wolves were skewered and dead. there was blood everywhere.

the spikes sunk into the ground and the wolves dropped to the ground dead and lifeless bleeding out onto the grass. i looked over to the woods and more eyes appeared and walked out into the light. there were still more wolves. what the fuck are these things. wolves usually travel in packs of like 10 or maybe 20. but there were hundreds of the motherfuckers.

they growled at me and looked ready to attack. i was too hurt to do much of anything else. i used my light to form a barrier around me. the wolves ran over and started clawing at the barrier. whenever one of them touched the barrier a spike would shoot out and kill it. my barrier got at least ten of them before they figured it out. they backed away from the barrier and circled me.

i was surrounded by a sea of wolves all of which didn't just want to kill me but hated me because i had slaughtered hundreds of their kin in self defense. they knew as well as i did that i couldn't stay in this bubble forever. i was hurt badly and i was going to slowly bleed out despite my regenerative powers.

i heard next to me the door to my house swing open and i saw twilight and derek standing there. to describe the amount of surprise i saw in them would be uncountable. but they were shocked to see what was going on. the wolves turned their head and snarled at them. they quickly shut the door and a few wolves ran over and started pawing at it.

i concentrated hard and started using my magic to shoot spikes from the ground and slowly skewer the wolves around me. though when i killed one wolf two more would just crawl out of the dark forest. i had a plan but it would be a suicide mission. i knew a place in the forest that will help... but there was no way i could get there.

the wolves were in the forest and i can't exactly outrun a freakishly large pack of wolves in my condition. i couldn't teleport it was too risky. i would have to drop my shield first and even then it takes a second for me to concentrate. they would get me before that. i tried to listen closely into my house to see how my friends were handling the situation. i couldn't hear anything over the snarls growls and barks of the wolves.

i heard a strange noise and looked to the house and saw one of the top floor windows open up. i saw dash fly out and float over to my shield.

"what are you doing go back." i said.

"i can lift you out."she said. she reached out.

"no stop." i yelled and she pulled back. one of the wolves had jumped forward to try and snag her out of the air but missed and landed on the shield. several spikes shot out a skewered him. dash flew back even further and some of the wolves were jumping up and trying to snag her out of the air. i did my best to kill as many as i could.

"well can you drop the shield." she asked.

"not they would get us before you could pick me up and fly away." i said. "dash go and put all the potions in my potions cabinet in a bag and drop it over it will pass through the shield." i said.

"alright... sit tight." she said. she flew back into the house. i started to slash away at wolves again and killed as many as i could before she flew back out. " all of the potions are here." she said. she flew a bit close over the shield and let go of the bag. it passed right through and i caught it.

"okay now go back inside baby." i said. she nodded and headed back inside. she closed the window and i opened up the bag. there were tons of potions in here, but first things first... health potion. since my wounds were great i drank the whole thing. i gagged at the taste. i looked and saw my muscle and tissue and skin quickly recover my body and i felt healed.

the next potion was an energy potion to regain my fortitude. i took a swig and instantly felt rejuvenated. i looked through the bag for something useful, there wasn't much. wait... i took out a potion from the bag and it had a skull on it. the label read 'immediate contact poison'. i remember making this... i was never so careful in my entire life. just one drop of this stuff with kill a bear.

i tossed the jar high into the air and used a tentacle of light to smash it. it rained down on everything but didn't pass through the shield. i watched as the wolves around me started dropping dead. the grass withered and turned brown and so did some parts of the tree's. luckily it doesn't puddle on the ground and accidentally kill somebody. a bit of steam rose into the air from the unused potion and everything around me was dead. that was probably the most recklessly destructive thing i've ever done.

i made a run for it and more wolves bolted after me from the forest. i ran to the house but then i remembered my plan. i still needed to get into my house to do this though. i bolted over and twilight opened the door. i jumped through and one of the wolves grabbed my back hoof with his teeth. i jumped through and let him in the house with me. twilight quickly however closed the door behind me.

me and the wolf attached to my leg crashed into the living room. little baby dawn started crying and scootaloo freaked at the sight of the wolf. she screamed and kept telling it to get off of her daddy. the wolf bit deeper into my leg and pulled me back. i yelled in pain. i tried not to yell as loud in front of scootaloo but it really hurt.

using my good hoof i kicked it in the face. i kicked it over and over again but it's teeth were sunk deep into my skin. kicking it only helped to make my leg worse by dragging its teeth through my muscle and rip through the tissue so i stopped. this wolf really wanted my leg. before i could do anything else derek flew from the kitchen with a sword floating by him and he jabbed it through the side of the wolf. the wolfs grip loosened and i pulled my leg free.

the wolf dropped dead on the ground and dash got scootaloo and dawn to settle down. i looked down at my mangled leg... it's not the worse its been, but there were a bunch of deep long cuts and it was definitely bleeding furiously. i looked at derek who stepped over.

"you got a bit of a wolf problem." he said.

"really now... what makes you say that." i said. i got back up. it hurt to stand on my wounded leg but it wasn't that bad.

"so is there any reason why i'm here." said twilight.

"i thought you would be able to tell me why there are hundreds of wolves in my backyard... if that's not too much to ask." i said with a lot of sarcasm.

"well i don't know... it's not like wolves to travel in packs larger than 20 never mind the fact there are hundreds of them out there... what have you done since you got home... wasn't fighting the princess enough." said twilight.

"well twilight." i said still with sarcasm. "i got home from that day and i still had so much energy i thought i would go and fuck with the biggest group of wolves i could find and bring them home with me... maybe keep one as a pet or something... you know." she said.

"don't be sarcastic." she said.

"if you don't want a sarcastic response then don't say something stupid." i said.

"well i'm sorry crimson i really don't know why a group of wolves would be this large... but the large size of their pack might explain why they're so aggressive." said twilight. i walked over to the window and saw the wolves lying around outside. a few of them walked around the side to the front.

i quickly ran off to the front of the house to make sure they weren't going to ponyville. i watched and saw a bunch of wolves flood the front of my house as well, but they didn't leave.

"what's wrong." said twilight.

"they've surrounded us and their in the front." i said.

"we have to stop them before they head into ponyville." said dash.

"they're not going to ponyville." i said "look... they're just laying around in the front." i said. dash and derek and twilight walked over. they looked out the window to see the wolves lying around and resting in front of our house.

"you know." said derek. "when they aren't trying to kill you they look harmless like a normal dog." he said.

"dogs are now my least favorite animal ever." i said. "when i get out of this i'm buying a cat."

"daddy i'm scared." said scootaloo running up and hugging my leg tightly. i knelt down and picked her up. she was horribly frightened. i pat her on the back. "please make them go away daddy... please." she begged.

"shh... it's alright baby..." i said as i looked to dash. "dash i need you to fly scootaloo and dawn out of here. take the above window. i said.

"what if the wolves follow me." she said.

"if they follow you then come back... we can't let them get into ponyville but it seems as if they just want us... more specifically me." i said "if they don't follow you give scootaloo and dawn to fluttershy... then go get the princess." i said.

"you can't come with me." she said.

"my wings are broken and besides twilight and thunder here can't hold off the wolves either." i said.

"well i can teleport us." said twilight.

"alright then instead twilight you go get the princess and dash drop off scootaloo and dawn." i said.

"what about us?" said derek sounding concerned.

"if we leave and they don't smell us here then they might follow our scent to ponyville or wander there anyway." i said. "us being here is the only thing keeping them out of ponyville." i said.

"god, there's always a catch." said derek "alright i'm sure we can hold off the wolves" he said.

"alright..." i looked to dash and twilight. "you two cannot speak a word of this to anypony... if they try to help they'll only draw the wolves into ponyville and kill everypony... twilight only tell the princess and dash make up something to tell fluttershy." i said.

"daddy what's going to happen to you." said scootaloo.

"don't worry scoots... i'll be fine." i said. "now can i trust that you won't tell anypony about the wolves." i said. she remained still. "baby you need to promise me you won't tell anypony because if you do allot of your friends might get really hurt." i said.

"alright dad i promise." she said.

"good." i said i gave her a kiss on the head and then gave dash a kiss as well. i walked with her upstairs and she opened up a window in the hall. she grabbed scootaloo and dawn and flew out. i looked down at the wolves. some watched as she flew away but made no attempt to grab or follow her... infact if she was on the ground i'm sure she could just walk right past them.

that's strange. i expected them to at least snarl and bark. i went downstairs and there was a flash of light at the bottom of the stairs. i walked down and there was a little whisk of smoke and then nothing.

"twilight left." said derek. "it's just us." he said.

"yeah just us." i said. "like that time in brazil... sector 22" i said smiling. he smiled too.

"yeah i was sure we were dead for sure." he said.

"yeah those leopards would have gotten us for sure if it weren't for that rope you always keep with you." he said. he laughed quietly to himself.

"yeah... we would have been leopard food for sure." i said.

"and remember that one time in taiwan... with the boar's." he said.

"oh yeah." i said laughing. "i don't think i've ever run that fast in my entire life." i said laughing.

"me neither." said derek. we both took a seat on the couch and started going down memory lane. "but damn the tusks on those things." he said.

"i know they were sharp... one of the bastards got me remember." i said.

"oh that's right came right through your leg and got stuck. you fell with the bore and got trampled. then you got up and held the bore down while you ripped the tusk right out of it's face... my god you were an animal." he said.

"not like that time in africa when you made some guy eat an active charge of C4 and then sent him back into the enemy base with his mouth sewn shut so he wouldn't tell... you sick bastard." i said smiling. he nudged me.

"i admit that was pretty sick." he said." why is it the craziest shit always happens when it's just us." he said.

"i don't know... because were friends maybe... some bullshit like that." i said. we both let out a deep sigh and sat there in silence. the wolves started howling and barking. they started jumping at the window and scratching the doors and walls.

"are we going to have to fight these wolves." said derek.

"hopefully not." i said. "but we might." i said.

"those things fucked you up... i don't stand a chance." he said. "if they get in here i'm dead." he said

"you'll be fine... the world threw seven jaguars, two mountain lions, a stampede of boar's, and a megalodon at you." i said.

"a megalo-what." he said.

"a megalodon... remember that scuba mission in the atlantic with the seals." i said.

"oh yeah and that whale tried to eat us."he said. he started laughing.

"that wasn't a whale it was a shark...a megalodon, the biggest meanest motherfucker in the sea." i said laughing.

"holy shit... that's some fucked up stuff." he said.

"yeah it is." i said. "the worlds full of fucked up shit." i said. "that would pretty much explain my life... just a random series of fucked up events... all there is to it." i said. the wolves kept howling and barking. they scratched at the door and started pounding on it. they were pounding against the glass too.

"they're going to get in here eventually." he said.

"i guess so." i said. we were both looking at the back door.

"what do ya say" he said. "should we go out swinging... like good ol' times." he said.

"what the hell" i said agreeingly. "i've lived long enough..." i said. we both walked over to the door.

"you first." he said levitating his sword next to him.

"thanks" i said. i summoned my light and my armour onto me. i made sure it was tight this time. "is your armour tight because they'll just pull it off."

"it is now." he said using his magic to pull the straps of his armour tighter. "ready." he asked.

"ready" i replied. i closed my eyes and started glowing. i said a quick prayer before letting out a fearsome shout. the shout sent a wave of energy and a trail of glowing spikes from the ground. it tore apart the back half of the house and ripped apart every wolf in the backyard.

and so we went out swinging. the wolves attacked from every side and we fought back to back. i kept the wolves away and so did derek. we hacked and slashed wolf after wolf until there was a pile in front of us. i used my light to throw the bodies away and at the other wolves.

derek held up on his own. he did get bitten a few times... not to say that i didn't either. he was good with that sword, better than i was. he slashed and chopped away mercilessly at the wolves. and we stood there and we fought off the wolves. but they just kept coming.

they soon started to overwhelm us. i felt dereks back leave mine and i turned back quickly. he was on the ground being attacked by wolves. i quickly used my light and skewered them. i helped him up but i was forced to the ground as well. he tried to help me but her got attacked too. we were foolish to do this.

i felt one of the wolves bite my neck and tear at it. i yelled in pain and derek was outright screaming in agony. i used my powers to help him and not myself. i kept the wolves off of him and they just ran over to me and started mauling me instead. i was losing blood fast. and derek was on the ground lying still... oh god no.

i let out one more furious yell and almost destroyed everything around us. i released my wrath upon the wolves but i used precision to keep it from derek. after the light of my wrath faded my house was destroyed, derek might be dead, and i was losing blood fast. i looked forward and there were only a few more wolves left. there were no more in the fores. there were five regular ones and one large black one.

that one must have been the alpha male... the leader of the pack. they walked up to me slowly and they were snarling. the big black wolf walked over and bit his teeth down on my already wounded neck. i yelled out in pain and jerked around trying to get free. the other wolves started biting at my legs and sides.

i yelled in pain and the pressure of the wolf's jaw increased and he was crushing my neck. i yelled out in pain more. i went to use my powers but i was exhausted. i was as good as dead. i could feel my wind pipe blocking up with blood and i couldn't breath easily. i could taste blood. i thought i was dead for sure, but then from the corner of my eye there was a bright light. thank god it's celestia.

the wolf dropped me and the other wolves let go too. i watched them whimper and run away. then the light faded. i turned my head and saw only my friend derek... oh god no not him. i thought to myself.

i crawled towards him and i was losing blood fast but i kept making my way to him. i stopped to cough up a bit of blood so i can breath and keep crawling. i finally got to derek and he laid bleeding and hurt on the ground. i put my ear to his chest. he was just barely alive and not breathing well.

"oh god no... not him... not him." i said almost bursting into tears. "i'm wasn't thinking." i said putting my head on his chest and letting my tears stain his coat. "i made him fight with me... he should go this way." i said.

"you weep for your friend... are you sure he would weep for you." said a male voice behind me. i didn't have time to question who's it was, i was caught up in the fact that my friend was practically dead.

"of course he would." i snapped. "we are best friends... we've done everything together... he would die for me and i would do the same." i said in a flurry of hate at the pony behind me.

"why do you yell." he said calmly. "you two are the best of followers... true to each other." he said. i focused my eyes and saw a white stallion standing before us. he had hair to his neck and a medium sized beard. he looked familiar.

"who... who are you stranger." i said. "why are you here." i said. i was loosing my voice from loss of blood and from the fact my vocal chords were shredded. "why do you not help us." i said.

"ah, but i will help you... first stand." he said.

"i can't." i said with an almost impossible voice to hear.

"yes... you can... stand." he repeated. i struggled to my feet and i found some sort of strength within me that held me up. i stood before the mysterious pony.

"who are you." i asked.

"you may know me of my father." he said with a faint smile. his father... it hit me right there. i fell to the ground again before him. not from respect but mostly because my legs had given out again.

"you mean to say you.. are."i said. he finished my sentence for me as he stood over me.

"i am the son of god... the lord and forgiver of sin...i stand before you now for my father has requested it." he said.

"my lord i am not worthy." i said closing my eyes and cupping my hooves.

"if there is any man... no matter which world he comes from... if there is any man worthy of god and his wonders it is you." he said. "open your eyes my friend." he said. i opened my eyes and noticed something different.

i looked at myself and saw that i was fully healed. no bites or scratches. i could breath fine and my voice was back to normal. i looked over and saw derek cough and get up. he was fine to. i ran over and tackled him.

"oh praise the lord he has healed you." i said.

"dude get off." he said pushing me away. "what are you talking about who healed me." said derek. i got up and so did he. we looked over to jesus... in pony form. "who is this."

"hello derek." he said. derek tensed up.

"uh my name's not derek it's thunder rush." he said.

"do not lie to protect yourself... i'm not here to do you harm... if i had not come god would have met you before I." he said. something in derek's head clicked and he fell to his knees.

"lord forgive me i am not worthy." he said. jesus walked over and placed and hoof on derek's shoulder.

"rise my friend... you are indeed worthy of the lord." he said. "think not that you use violence that you are different from me." he said. "i could have lived my life a thousand times over with and without the use of violence... my teachings would have remained but i did not hurt those before me because they were all poor of spirit and would see the error of their misdoings when the time comes for them to be judged." he said.

"jesus surely you must be hear to do more than heal us and tell us we are worthy of god... the lord does not present himself without it being part of his great plan." i said.

"indeed you are correct my child." he said. "god has made you his angel because through you... you are the only one that can speak the true tongue of the lord and summon the holy spirit." he said.

"how do i summon the holy spirit." i asked.

"you will learn this when you feel the full weight of the world around you." he said. "and don't think god does not know about you." he said looking to derek. "you are truly worthy of gods blessing... would you both pray with me." he said.

"yes of course my lord." we both said. jesus knelt to the ground and we did as well.

"dear father above... watch over your children lost in a world of secrets and pain... bless them with your holy gifts and make them strong." said jesus. there was a bright light and the sky was light up even though it was practically night. i let the warmth of the light fill me and warm my body. derek did the same.

the light faded into the sky and with it so did jesus. we both looked up into the sky and watched the light fade and the dark of the late day cover the yard again. i looked around and everything was still the same. the torn carcases of wolves. the tree's and grass were still dead and my house was still ruined. ut i was alive and more importantly so was derek.

"so... did that really just happen." he said.

"yeah." i replied. "it did really just happen."

"like i said... only the craziest shit when it's just me and you." he said. we both laughed. we walked over to the couch and sat down. the entire back part of my house was burnt or gone. the rest was fine just the back. so we sat on the couch i lit a few candles and we let the cool night breeze cool us off.

i got up and went into the kitchen. i brought us back a couple beers and i passed one his way. he opened it up and we made a little toast. we didn't say anything we just clapped glasses over victory. it was the best thing i could think to do after almost losing my friend. so we sat there and drank up.

****i think when i finish my beer i'll go and buy a cat...

-Authors Note: Just a heads up guys this chapter was originally supposed to be part of the next chapter i'm going to post. the next chapter is LONG... i wish you could hear the emotion and feeling i just put into writing the word 'long'. so yeah that's gonna happen. stay tuned.- End of Note-


	55. Chapter 55: Not For The Faint Of Heart

-Authors Note: This chapter... This chapter is sooooooo long. it is 21,617 words long... that's right, words. not letters, not syllables...WORDS. if any of you read this in one sitting... god have mercy on your soul. with that said i would save the page where you are and take a break at some point. reading is healthy and good for you but only when it's from a book. even then you should put it down every now and then or read outside. but if you read this whole chapter without taking a break and just stare at your computer, i am not at fault if you go blind...not my fault and not my problem.-End of Note-

there was a pounding at the door and then a royal guard kicked it in. several royal guards poured into the house ready for battle and so did the princess. she had a determined look on her face. it was funny to watch it change when she saw what had happened. she looked around. she seemed a bit eager to fight these wolves.

"did... did the wolves leave." said one of the guards.

"pshh, i wish." said derek.

"yeah we took care of it... but if you want to princess you can make yourself a nice fur pelt rug or coat or something..."i said to her. she and her guards walked past us and we both took another sip of beer and silently laughed at them. i looked over as they all walked through the mangled pelts and chunks of bloody meat lying on the ground all over my back yard. there was almost no place where there wasn't blood.

i looked over and saw twilight and dash quickly run in through the broken door. they looked like they were expecting a fight as well but it was still funny to watch their expression change. they looked around. dash of all of them was the most awestruck .she walked past us and through the missing back side of our house. she looked around and the gaping hole with her jaw on the floor and then at the sea of blood and bodies in the back yard.

"yeah." said derek. "there were a few wolves but we took care of them." he said.

"yeah we got bored sitting in here and killed them all... but thanks for helping us acknowledge the fact that you guys would have shone up eventually." i said. we both started chuckling and laughing silently.

"what... how... when... the house." said dash firing off questions.

"well we killed the wolves and the house was damaged in the process yes. as to how we well... just fought them, simple enough. and seeing as i'm halfway through my beer i'd say like five minutes ago." i said. i smiled and so did derek.

"yeah sorry about the house dash." said derek.

"oh and celestia you owe me a new door... kicking it down was a little unnecessary." i said. we both started laughing. it was fun to mess with them like this. the guards left and the princess, twilight and dash walked over. twilight seemed upset like always. the princess was smiling and dash still had her jaw on the floor.

"well it's obvious that you two have proven yourself." she said.

"yeah right... there's no scratch on them... what really happened." said twilight.

"well we had a bit of help from a good friend." i said.

"and how would you two have been without this...'friend'" said the princess winking at me.

"well honestly..." i said. "derek would be dead... and i would have been killed and then made food of for wolves... you should have seen the hole in my neck it was disgusting." i said. we both laughed.

"alright we'll take your word for it..." said twilight acting like she would puke if she knew. "so who was your friend." she asked.

"just a friend." i said.

"was it god." asked dash.

"no not exactly but close... very close." i said. "twilight you might know... you're the only other one who has read the bible i gave you." i said.

"i don't even know...i read the whole thing but i was completely lost the entire time... there were hundreds of names and some of the chapter didn't make sense like the one uh... pasalms." she said. she meant psalms but she horribly butchered the word.

"that would be psalms... and it's not a chapter they're songs of our faith... i should have been smarter about this. the bible is not just something you read like a novel or story... it's more like a codex of teachings and anecdotes." i said.

"well i give up on trying to understand your religion or whatever... you can have the book back." she said i laughed.

"twilight my religion is one that was forged and molded over the process of thousands and thousands of years... it's passed down in families, were basically born with an understanding of this religion and we can understand it." i said. "you don't even know how to say psalms." i said. "this is just one thing twilight that you're going to have to let go." i said.

"yeah whatever... i'm not going to bother to try and understand how you two survived... but i don't care, you two are safe and that's what really matters."

"i'm not sure i fully understand this god of yours." said the princess. "but we have come past the point where i cannot deny his existence... and i cannot deny that he has power in this world." she said. "but i can see that i am not needed here... you did the right thing asking for my help even though it turns out you didn't need it."

she walked over to the broken in front door. she used her magic to fix the door and she opened it. she walked through and closed the door. i smiled and looked back at rainbow. i grabbed her and pulled her onto my lap. i hugged her tight and twilight walked around and looked back over the mess outside.

"well this is an impressive mess you've made." she said.

"yes i agree that i don't think i've ever been so recklessly destructive ever before in my life." i said.

"not true." said derek. "remember in venezuela when you were supposed to just collapse the one building but took out five others around it." he said. i laughed when i remembered about it.

"that is true..." i said. "alright then in this world... never have i been so recklessly destructive." i said. dash smiled and gave me a little kiss.

"so... you're house." said twilight.

"yeah... that happened... i uh... oh we can stay at dashes old cloud home." i said.

"can't" she said "i sold it remember."

"oh yeah that's right." i said. "well damn... you know what... i think it's time we moved... it's a bit dangerous to live near the forest... i noticed that now." i said.

"that sounds like a great idea." said dash.

"hey there's a big plot of land next to where they're building my new house... you could buy it out and we could be neighbors." said derek.

"that's not actually a bad idea." said dash.

"it's not... but it will take some time." i said.

"so... what have you got to do in a hurry." said twilight.

"well for one i would like to keep my family in a house with less...view" i said gesturing to gaping hole in the wall.

"well you guys could stay with me for the time... i've got a spare room." said twilight.

"how are we all going to fit in your spare room." i said

"good point." she said.

"are you sure we're ready to move..." asked dash.

"well the forest is becoming too dangerous." i said.

"well maybe we could get a fence... i like this house... it's been through everything." she said. i smiled and gave her a kiss.

"alright baby... we won't move...why don't you take the kids out tomorrow and i'll get the house fixed up." i said.

"what about tonight." she asked.

"you can stay at twilight's tonight." i said.

"wait... just me." she said.

"i have something to do." i said.

"oh no..." she said. "is it going to be something stupid." she asked.

"most likely yes." i said.

"promise you won't get hurt." she said.

"i promise to be able to walk home." i said.

"alright fine... i was hoping to spend another night together." she said.

"i know but this is important." i said.

"alright... c'mon twilight we should go." said dash. she hopped off my lap and her and twilight walked out of the house and away. it was just me and derek.

"whatever you're doing... i want in." he said.

"good because i wasn't going to give you a choice... lets go." i said.

"uhm... were." he asked.

"into the woods" i said. i walked out of the hole in the back of my house and trotted across the soft and bleeding corpses of the wolves. i walked to the edge of the forest.

"really into the forest... after all of this." said derek.

"do you really think there are more wolves in the forest... or anywhere else." i said. "we might have single handedly endangered the entire wolf population in equestria." i said pointing to litteral layer of wolf carcasses.

"alright... lets go." he said.

"wait forgot one thing." i said. i dashed over to the house, grabbed my bags and rocketed back past him. "alright now lets go." i said trotting into the forest. derek followed close behind and we walked for about 10 minutes.

"where are we going." he asked.

"don't worry about it." i said.

"that makes me worry about it more." he said.

"well then worry about it because it's a bit of a surprise... were meeting some..."i was going to say friends but that wasn't a correct term. "some...uhh... we'll call them acquaintances." i said.

"acquaintances?" she said.

"yeah sure... something like that." i said. we walked through the woods for about another forty minutes and we were close. i could recognize the area around me and it was familiar.

"are we almost there." he said.

"yes actually." i said. i walked forward for a few minutes and noticed the clearing through the dark night sky. "ah there it is." i said. i ran forward and derek ran after me. i broke through the clearing and into the grass field. i ran until i was at the shore of the lake. derek ran over and stopped next to me.

"what is this place." he said.

"oh i accidentally found this place when the entire town of ponyville was at my doorstep. i ran into the forest to get away and relax for the day... then i found this place and rescued some people in a cave at the bottom of this lake." i said explaining my adventure to him.

"wait... people." he said.

"well... not exactly." i said. i walked over to the edge of the lake and dipped my hooves into the shallow water. the crystals at the bottom light up and the lake glowed making the field glow as well.

"holy shit." he said. "thats freaking sweet." he said.

"stick your head in the water." i said.

"why."

"just do it.". i said. he walked over and walked into the water. he kept going until it was deep enough for him to stick his head in and he did. i walked over and did the same. i could hear the crystals singing their song. i looked around but i couldn't see the mermaids. i stuck my head back out of the water and pulled dereks up too. he gasped for air.

"i forgot to breath." he said. i laughed.

"yeah i did the same thing." i said. i reached into my bag and pulled out another potion of underwater breath. "c'mon we're going for a swim." i said. i uncorked the bottle and took a drink. it was enough for a 2 days. i handed it to him. "just a little bit... the stuff is strong and you don't want to waste it all"

he took a little drink and handed the bottle back to me. i checked it to see how much he drank and it was roughly around 2 days. alright we're all good now. before i jumped into the water i heard something rustling in the tall grass. i stopped and looked out into the field. it was dark but the glowing water helped with that.

"what is it." asked derek.

"there's something watching us from the field..." i said. "quickly into the water." we both walked forward and dove into the deep part of the water. i took a deep breath and let the water fill my throat and lungs. i saw derek sort of freaking and holding his throat. i rolled my eyes. i punched him in the gut hard enough to make him gasp for air forcing the water into his lungs.

"what the hell." he said. "wait... i can breath." he said.

"yeah what did you think was in that bottle...a fire resistance potion." i said. "c'mon lets go." i said. i let myself sink to the bottom of the lake bed. i liked the feeling of sinking. it was like falling but calmer. especially when i know that i can breath and i won't break my spine doing it.

i slowly sunk to the bottom of the lake and derek did the same. i was lying on my back but derek was going hooves first. i felt the soft wet sand hit my back and the slimy seaweed brush against me and i hit the lake bed. derek landed besides me and i got up. we slowly walked our way through the water.

the seaweed around us moved rapidly and there was something in it. derek got into a sort of fighting position. but i calmed him down. the rift of seaweed grew closer to us.

"don't worry they won't hurt you." i said. the only bad thing i could think of happening was that they might overpower us and... well you know, but i can't really complain about that.

"who is they." he asked.

"see for yourself." i said. the rift rushed right up to us and one of the mermaids burst from the seaweed. it was eris... i still recognize her face, it was the only human like face i knew anymore. she looked at us and smiled.

"well if it isn't my favorite land critter... and he has a friend." she said.

"what...ha...how, a mermaid really..." derek said looking at you. "you rescued a mermaid." he said.

"yeah... i did... lets keep it at that." i said.

"yes he is a true hero... aren't you." she said with a lusty smile. i just glared at her. i wasn't afraid to use my magic to stop them this time. i wouldn't hurt them but i wouldn't let them take advantage of me without a fight. eris put two fingers in her mouth and blew out a whistle.

i looked around as somewhat familiar faces of mermaids started popping out of corners and behind seaweed. they all swam over and sort of swam around us. eris stayed in front of us though. they were circling us like vultures... i didn't like that. but derek was looking around awestruck.

"hmm..." said eris. "your friend is different... he has a horn." she said.

"yes." i said. "that means he doesn't need hands to pick things up... he has magic." i said. i looked over and derek wasn't paying much attention.

"dude this place is great." he said. no wonder you were gone all day.

"yeah..." i said. "no wonder." i said.

"so i take it you want something." said eris.

"yes... i helped you... now i think you should help me." i said.

"i'm listening." she said swimming close to me. she started swimming around me and wrapped herself around me body. it was a bit annoying. "it only seems fair that after you helped us... and in such a big way," she said with a lot of emphasis. "that we should help you now... so what is it you want." she said swimming back in front of me.

"a couple of hours ago i was attacked by a pack of wolves." i said.

"and how are we supposed to help with that." she said.

"well we killed the wolves already." i said. "me and my friend here fought them off."

"very brave... but what are a few wolves to two adventurers like yourselves." said eris. derek pulled away from the other mermaids and started focusing again.

"first of all do not underestimate a pack of wolves... after fighting them i've grown some respect for how they work... but this wasn't a normal pack." i said. "there were at least 200 plus wolves that attacked and surrounded my house." i said. eris' face dropped to a shock expression.

"well that certainly is a lot of wolves." she said.

"and i was wondering if you knew anything about this... seeing as mermaids are smart... wise and... ancient creatures." i said.

"please you're making me blush." she said covering her mouth. "i may know something about this... cleo said she saw wolves the other day." she said. "cleo come here."

one of the mermaids circling us broke the pattern and swam down over to eris. she had purple scales a different style of fin. she had black curly hair and brown eyes. she looked over and smiled when she saw me.

"yes eris." she said. her voice was soft, all of their voices were soft. "what do you need." she said.

"tell these too about the wolves." said eris.

"alright." she said. she turned to us. "well yesterday i went up to the surface for a while to pick some flowers. i got to the shallow part of the shore and started looking at the forest around..." she said.

already she had mentioned the forest and flowers. the other day these mermaids didn't even know what a tree was. i think they've been lying to me about something. after they tell me what i want to know i'm going to get answers.

"then in the tree's i saw a whole lot of these wolves." she said. "a bunch of them came out into the field and they were everywhere. they saw me and started snarling. i got back into the water but one of them got my fin." she said holding up her tail. the webbing was torn, it wasn't a different style it was torn.

"did you see a large black wolf in the pack." i asked.

"yes..." she said. "i did... he was standing there and the other wolves would bring him their hunt." she said.

"thank you cleo." eris said. cleo smiled at me and waved her fingers then swam back with the others circling around. "i'm not sure if that helps. but that's everything that she told us... when i went to go see the wolves they were gone. they were heading in the direction of the way you wen't when you went home... i only got a glimpse of a few of them but i never saw a black wolf." she said.

"so is this how you mermaids live... in the seaweed." said derek.

"yes." said eris. "though we do have such things as beds and houses... usually we make our houses in caves like that. we also had tools and weapons, mostly for hunting" she said pointing to the big cave in the lake. "that used to be our home before the great flood." she said.

"how is a flood bad for mermaids." asked derek.

"well the lake didn't flood in but it flooded out and the cave was drained." she said. "then the exit water never rose... and we we're stuck. we designed it to fill the cave back up but it never filled up." she fell victim...'supposedly', to water displacement. the cave made a U shape. one end was connected to the lake and that filled the cave with water. but the other end was just a bit higher and in an instance like this the water won't rise much higher than the entry point.

"well i'm sorry to hear that." said derek. "i'm just glad my friend crimson could help you."

"oh yes we are very grateful." said eris. "i just wish more of us could have survived." she said hanging her head.

"eris you said you had things like tools and weapons." i asked.

"well...yes." she said.

"do you have books... or any recordings of information." i asked.

"we have some tomes... yes they're back in the housing cave... but we can't get to them." she said. "if you two can get them i can translate it for you." she said.

"alright... lets go." said derek. eris swam ahead to the cave in the floor and we swam after her. she swam slow so i could keep up. but having wings made it easier to swim unlike derek who was moving slower than the water around him. he got smart though and used his magic to somehow push him forward. it was quite impressive.

we followed eris through the cave and up to the exit to the housing cave. i was about to swim up with derek and stopped when i noticed that he stopped as well.

"c'mon dude." i said.

"you go... i want to stay here." he said. "maybe learn a few things from the mermaids." he said. i rolled my eyes.

"are you sure." i asked.

"yeah... this is your thing dude i'm already over the wolves... i'll be here." he said. i rolled my eyes again and sighed.

"alright." i said "just be careful." i swam up and broke the surface of the water. i crawled out and into the cave. it was cold in here. i started looking around. i hope they just don't take advantage of him... i couldn't fight them off but then again i wasn't trying to hurt them... he does have his magic, i guess i'll find out.

i looked around some more and there were several pots of water on the ground and holes in the sides of the cave. those must be the houses. the more i looked at it the more organized it seemed to be. it was like a beehive but less repetitive. finding a tome in this place without knowing where to look might take a while.

i jumped into the pots of water but they were all just puddles not pots. they weren't smooth however. they were full of huge rocks and boulders. i walked over to the hole the mermaids were in originally. i jumped in and it was huge. i could see through it now. there were a few pillars and strange looking carvings that resembled furniture. i looked around but this wasn't it. i swam back up and broke the surface. i climbed up and coughed the water out of my lungs and throat.

i walked around and decided to check the holes in the wall. i spread my wings and took off but i fell at only two feet in the air. i hit the stone ground with a thud. i got up. my wings were too wet. i shook myself off like a dog and waved my wings fast to dry them. they were less wet now.

i tried again and i could fly. i flew into one of the holes closest to me. it was empty. there were stone carvings like furniture but nothing more. i flew out and into the next one... it was exactly the same. all the houses were the same so i flew around and just simply glimpsed at them from the inside.

it took me about 30 minutes to realize that all of the holes in the sides of the cave were all homes and all were exactly the same. i looked around. i'm lucky that these crystals glow and still work, or i'd never be able to find anything in here. i looked at the crystals when i noticed there was a large concentration of them in the corner near the ground. there were no holes near it... that has to be something, it was just so out of place that it couldn't be a coincidence.

i flew over and used my light to start smashing away at the crystals. they were tougher than i though but i cut through them regardless. i let out one last powerful strike and the whole mass of crystal shattered and the pieces fell to the ground. just as i though.

there was a giant stone door that was being covered by the crystals. i wen't to open it by hoof but the doors were so massive and thick, plus they were made from stone. i used my magic to slowly push the doors open with amazing strength.

i opened the doors and walked into a black room. it was cold and dark. i took a few more steps and a faint light glowed about the room. it started in back as one crystal, but soon that one crystal was many. slowly from behind me crystals lit up to show me where i was. when they were all done i could make out the room perfectly.

this room was huge... those doors were not misleading. it looked to be a throne room. i looked at the back and saw that it was. i also saw the skeletal remains of a merman sitting on the throne. i quickly flew over. the decorations were ocean and sea related. why would they need such a large throne room and for a little cave this size. the caves were big but not kingdom sized.

i flew over to the throne and the corpse. the skeleton was holding a golden trident and wearing a crown. i reached out and grabbed the trident. the skeletal remains of what must have been their king soon crumbled to dust. i closed my eyes and made the sign of the cross.

i looked away and around the room. it was still bothering me that such a little village or kingdom, i guess it was, had such a large palace. there was obviously something that i'm missing. i looked around some more and came across a door. i flew over still holding the trident. the door this time was made out of wood... strange. i pushed it open.

it was an open room with a large stone pedestal in the middle of it. i walked over and looked at the pedestal. there was a giant stone...book looking thing. it must be the tome. it was carved to look like a really fancy and important book. there were a few symbols on it. i picked it up and looked at it. after messing around with it i noticed something.

it's just a rock... there were no pages or opening or anything. it was just a rock carved to look like a book... oh well, eris might know what to do with this. i held the book in my right wing and the trident in my other. the tome despite being made of rock was not as heavy as i thought.

i walked back to the exit hole and jumped in. i tried to copy derek and i used my magic to push me forward. i took a deep breath and let my lungs fill up with water. i was near the exit to the lake when eris swam in front of me and stopped me.

"find it" she asked smiling. she looked at me and her expression changed. "where...where did you get that." she said. pointing at the trident i was holding.

"i found it." i said. "and yes i found the tome..." i tossed the rock over to her and she caught it.

"good now give me the kings trident." she said. she wen't to grab it from me but i pulled back.

"not yet... i have many more questions than the ones concerning the wolves... but lets start with those first..." i said. "answer my questions without lying to me... then i will return the trident." i said.

"alright fine." she said. "what do you want to know first." she asked.

"first the wolves see if that tome knows anything about them." i said. she waved her hand over the tome and the symbols on the front disappeared. soon new symbols started taking their place... so it was magic.

"here... it says that there is a feared wolf leader named shadow fang. he is the unholy offspring of a wolf and a demon. he commands a pack of 500 wolves and they have scoured the world hunting and killing even the most ferocious creatures ever known... they say that his followers fear him more than death." she read.

"is that all." i asked.

"yes that's all it says... we're mermaids, we don't exactly care much about your land affairs" she said. "anything else."

"yes... you're going to tell me what really happened to this place." i said. "there's an awfully big throne room down there for just a small housing cave." i said. i wanted to know the whole story about this place... i've got a way of being like that... i just have to know.

"because it's not a housing cave." she said. "it's a military barracks."

"ah that's the kind of stuff i like to hear... but i can tell there's more." i said.

"there is..."she said. "the whole entire central part of equestria where you live didn't used to always look like this." she said. "millions of years before canterlot or even equestria were created this whole area was underwater. it was below sea level and it was a great city... home to millions of mermaids." she said.

"now that i did not know." i said. "keep going."

"but that changed when ponies started showing up." she said. "we had no problem with them directly, but their hunting in our waters was shortening our food supply and in some instances they would hunt mermaids... for their own sick desires." she said.

"and i assume all this eventually boiled down to conflict." i said.

"yes... but when you're a mermaid it's hard to fight something that's not in the water... it was a vicious slaughter of our people. we were told to stay far from the shore. but we fought back by attacking their fishing boats and anything else they sent over the water." she kept saying.

"this doesn't help me understand why everything is how it is now." i said.

"well in an effort to rid us forever... a bunch of magic ponies like you're friend used a great deal of magic to a wall in the shape of a mountain over the river connecting our lake to the ocean." she said.

"so they created a natural dam." i said. she nodded her head.

"and over the years we didn't think much of it... but over a long time the water level continued to drop... and drop. soon there was only this lake. many of our kind died. when we were forced to live as a small village in this lake it was still millions of years ago." she said.

"how do you know this." i asked.

"because these stories were passed down since they happened." she said. "we watched as the world slowly started turning into what it is now. then more ponies came. ponies carrying carts with supplies and other things. then we watched as on the mountains above us was built a large structure. and then a city in the mountains... soon more ponies with carts came." she said.

"this sounds recent." i said.

"yes it took a million years for this place to take the shape of what it is... and then a thousand years for ponies to start using it." she said. "then it it was a million more years before i was born." she said.

"your people have been down just living in this one lake for a million years." i said. " i find that unlikely."

"we didn't just live in this lake alone..." she snapped at me, i don't think she like answering these questions. "the caves below us were massive constructs... thousands of merpeople lived in them... but one day only 5 thousand years from now when i was still young an adventurer like yourself came here." she said.

"alright and then." i said. she was slowing down a bit but i kept her going.

"he used magic to breath our water like you. at first he came here in peace. we let him stay. but the very night we saw him raiding the treasury and there was a fight. his magic collapsed the majority of the caves...many died." she said.

"is that what those holes of water were." i asked. they were full of rocks and boulders... those were the pathways to the rest of the city." said.

"yes after that he ran. we tried to survive but there were too many of us left and not enough food and space... the coral farms were all crushed with that. and there aren't enough fish in this lake to feed everybody back then. me and my family got through it. but it wasn't long until the caves started draining." she said.

"and you were trapped yes but how did you survive thousands of years without food." i asked.

"in a desperate attempt to save our kind. my people summoned a powerful magic that froze us solid and preserved us and the other mermaids with me..." she said "then you came along."

"alright..." i said. "it's not the most ridiculous story i've ever heard... but i still have a few questions." she rolled her eyes. she was growing impatient and tired of explaining things to me. "first of all why didn't they freeze any mermen with you so you could repopulate... you know, without me." i said. she smiled at the question.

"we did... i remember seeing them... but we were frozen first, what happened after that i can't remember." she said.

"fair enough." i said. "and second, how did you unfreeze." she said.

"when my people died these crystals that give off light went dormant... but when you touched the water they reacted to you... if you notice the crystals don't just ring and glow, but they give off heat... that's how we unfroze... all the things i told you when we met were lies... i just got up. i remember everything i told you like it was only yesterday." she said.

"so why just not tell me." i asked.

"well we were hungry and scared... and we were told to repopulate when we unfroze... i didn't think you would do that so easily... i could tell you weren't just another adventurer looking for fame and glory... you were there to help." she said.

"and how could you tell." i asked.

"because you didn't ask for a reward." she said smiling. i could tell she was warming up to me... but i was still going to keep my distance from her and the others. "now may i have the trident." she said.

"can you tell me where my friend derek is." i asked.

"well you see." she said. i cut her off right there because i knew what was going on already.

" alright... just... let him go." i said.

"he wasn't very hesitant." she said swirling around me "and for one that uses magic too... you could let him have his fun." she said. she did have a point. if he wanted to get out he probably could. besides... it's not like he's in trouble.

"alright fine..." i said. "i'm going back up to the cave... i want to look around it for a bit." i said. i let go of the trident and pushed it through the water over to her. she grabbed it and held it with two hands.

"you're free to take whatever from the palace." she said. "think of it as our thank you." she said giving me a wink and swimming away. i swam back down the cave and surfaced. i crawled out of the water and shook myself off. i coughed up the water in my lungs and took a deep breath of air. breathing water isn't hard it's just transitioning that is the hard part. i shook myself dry and flew over to the palace doors. i walked in and looked around this time.

i was starting to have a few regrets about letting derek just get used by those mermaids but it's not like he has a wife like me... he'll be fine. the mermaids were smart though to not come after me... then things would have gotten ugly.

while i looked around i couldn't help but imagine the things that have happened to these people. though i still am a bit doubtful of eris's story it did make sense. but mermaids are tricky. i should look around... see what i find. and that's what i did. i walked all the way back to the throne. i looked over at the door i went through to the tome and i looked to my right.

there was a door there as well. i walked over and pushed it open. i noticed the door was made of wood too, at least i thought. i took a second glance to see it wasn't normal wood, or wood at all. it was some kind of... well if i had to guess coral... really thick coral. interesting.

i slowly floated into the room and the crystals scattered around started lighting up and revealed the room to be some kind of great hall. there were long tables and one great big table with a large and kingly looking chair in the middle. the room was well decorated.

i walked around but there wasn't much here. i walked to another door and opened it up. there was a long hall. i walked down it. there were no doors except for one at the end. i walked up to the door and opened it. there was a big room filled with gold and chest's also most likely full of gold. i'm starting to wonder where all this gold is coming from.

i wasn't looking for gold. besides i'd be down here for days trying to move it around. besides i'm already a millionaire. i'm set for life. i looked around the room however for any artifacts that may have a magical property to them or something like that. i had just stuffed all of my magical weapons and stuff in the study of my house... it was going to be like an adventurers collection.

i was hoping to keep that trident. it would have made an excellent addition... but the mermaids deserve to have it, despite what they did to me after i had helped them. i looked around and i noticed something out of the corner of my eye. i looked over and it was a staff.

it was made from marble and it was smooth looking. it had a wavy design. it had blue crystals on the top of it that were shaped into symmetrical spikes. and the there was a gold head on it. it wrapped around the marble from a gold ring near the top and wrapped around it to form a spike that connected with the top of the crystal. this is what i'm talking about. i reached for it and the crystal on the top started to glow. i pulled my hoof back and it stopped glowing.

after a second of testing i realized that the crystal glows brighter the closer my hoof is to it. i have yet to actually pick it up. i reached out and grabbed the staff with my hoof. i felt a rush of energy wash over me and i felt a connection between me and the staff. that's how you know something is magical... when there's a connection like that.

i'm not going to fool around with this just yet until i know what it does. don't want to accidentally destroy something. oh yeah this will make a nice piece. i think i'll keep looking, see what else i can find. i looked over the staff one more time and noticed a black pearl looking jem at the bottom. out of curiosity i poked the gem with my hoof. the whole staff folded in on itself and i dropped it.

it fell to the ground as a sword now. that was sick. i picked it up. the hilt was gold and the blue gems were connecting the hilt and the blade. the blade was made of white steel and it looked very sharp. this was very interesting, i liked this. i pushed the little black gem on the bottom of the hilt and it changed again.

this time it fell to the ground as a bow. it had gold spirals and the ends were like bits of golden flame. the blue crystal was in the middle and it directed to the position of where the arrow would fire from. very, very interesting. i picked it up and found the black gem again.

i pushed it again and the bow shot straight out back into a staff again. this was a multi weapon. it was a staff, a sword, and a bow. not that i think about it, the use of a bow sounds like a fun way to fight... maybe i'll learn how to use one.

i pushed the gem two more times and it turned back into a bow. it was easier to carry this way because i can just string it over myself. i looked out of the room one more time and left. i walked down the hall and back into the feasting room. there was still quite a bit to explore.

i had almost forgotten why i came here in the first place, about the wolves. it was quite interesting, a wolf with a demon in it. like me but you know... a wolf. and for her people to know about this... he must be ancient. i have a bad feeling that this wolf has been eating souls too to stay alive for so long.

and being part demon he must be more humanistic than it is wolf. or at least he must think human thoughts. but that is some scary news. though since i've reduced his pack from well over 300 wolves to only five... i have a bad feeling this isn't the end.

i kept thinking about this while i walked around the castle. for what i could tell might have been a few hours. god... poor derek, well he might not feel that way but still, he must be exhausted by now. i only had one more door left. i walked over and opened it up. it was a ramp spiraling up. it was an underwater castle. while the ramp itself was still not required steps would have been completely unnecessary.

i walked up the ramp and into the room above. it was a large room with a giant crystal hanging from the ceiling. there were thrones on the end. i noticed that i had just come out one of the side doors. there was another across the room from me that probably lead to the same place i just came from.

i walked in and saw stone benches aligned and facing the throne. i looked at the throne and it was huge. it was solid gold and encrusted with gems. i walked in a bit more and the rows and rows of benches wen't on. when i finally saw the back i could barely make it out. it was like a mile long church. the mile part was an exaggeration.

there was a bright light shining from the throne. i looked over and saw that above the throne was a sort of hanging centerpiece. it was made of gold and diamonds. there was a large blue crystal in the center shaped like a heart. i walked closer to the throne and i felt the air around me getting warmer.

it was not a burning warmth but a comforting one. i saw in the heart shaped crystal there was a fire that danced around inside of it visible past the blue shell. there no way this crystal is not important somehow. but before i just plundered this gem i wanted to take in this room. it was huge. it was very high and stretched out for at least the length of 2 football fields. the roof of this place can't possible be far from the ground.

i looked and saw there were statues with their own plaques. i walked over to one of the statues. they were all of mighty looking warriors. they were all mermen. i looked at a placard but i didn't even bother to read the words. these statues were pretty good. they were like twice the size of what a merman probably is but still good.

there were only six though. one every like 40 yards. each one had a different kind of weapon with them. there was one with a sword, a spear, a bow, a staff, a hammer, and an axe. i was questioning how some of these weapons worked underwater, like everything except for the spear, the staff and the sword, maybe. the staff and bow were actually being held by mermaids not men. i don't get how a bow would work underwater and how did these people do and kind of fast swinging motions without the thickness of the water stopping and slowing them down.

i guess it doesn't matter. i respect their tradition and whatever worked for them kept them surviving even after all they've been through. i spread my wings and flew over to the centerpiece. the gem was quite large. big enough to know it would take two hooves to carry.

i reached out and grabbed the gem, i then yelped out in pain and pulled my hand back. the gem was burning hot. i guess i can't carry it. i used my light to pick up the gem and lift it off the centerpiece. immediately after the centerpiece shot right up into the ceiling and there were a few rumbling noises... that can't be good.

i looked around and noticed that the room was now being flooded with water. this can't possibly be draining from the lake could it. because that would be bad. i dropped the gem in surprise to what was happening and it fell into the water. i expected that because of the heat the water would jet up in a puff of steam but it didn't.

i flew down. the room was filling up fast. there was water pouring in from all around me. i fell into the water and took a deep breath letting my lungs fill up with water. i swam down to the gem and reached for it. i forgot that it was burning hot but it was too late i had my hooves on it. but they weren't burning... it isn't hot anymore. strange.

soon the whole room was filled to the brim with water. i looked over to see that the exits were sealed shut with some kind of stone door. i guess somepony was meant to drown in this... i guess not though. but how did they ever plan something like this.

oh well. i went to go smash the stone seal open when i heard a crash behind me. i had a feeling it was getting worse. i turned around slowly to see the statues shake and come to life. they got up and broke off their pedestals. i looked back at them and their eyes and cracks in their stone started glowing. they bared their teeth and snarled at me.

they quickly swam over. i used my magic to put on armour and bring a few large tentacles to my side. the one with the sword swam over and slashed his sword down to my head. i blocked it but it was heavy. apparently they can swing their weapons well. i lashed out a large tentacle of light and slashed him across the stomach. he dropped his stone sword and stumbled back. the slash in his stomach was glowing but he held his hands over it as if he was losing blood and was trying to catch any organs falling out of the gash.

he fell to the ground and the light in him went out. they fight and die like normal mermen. i figured that they would fight until they were but crumbs. before i could keep thinking the merman with the spear swam fast over and lunged the spear at me. i tried to jump out of the way but i forgot that i'm underwater so i barely just got away.

his spear pierced the ground and i lashed out two rays of light. they cut off his arm and slashed him across the neck. he roared out in pain and fell to the ground. i kinda wish i was derek right now... he's got it going better than i do right now. but i could feel myself getting carried away in the thrill of it all.

next the merman with the hammer swam over. he swung his hammer. i anticipated to dodge it but it swung much faster than i though. it hit me from the side and sent me flying into a wall. i yelled out in pain when i felt my ribs crack and break. but i quickly got up and i was ready he charged at me again but before he swung i skewered him with several large rays of light. he twitched for a second and dropped the hammer behind him. i removed the rays of light and he fell.

i used my wings and magic to swim back to the middle. next the mermaid with the staff swam forward. she waved her staff around in a circle and a light started appearing in the center. i too charged up an attack. i heard that she was saying some sort of enchantment or spell, or something.

the blast of light shot from the circle she made and towards me. i fired mine off as well. they both clashed and met. she held her staff up and tried to push back. i let out a fearsome roar and my beam was pushing back. she started saying some kind of other stuff that i couldn't understand but my blast pushed all the way through and shot right through her.

she dropped her staff and looked down at the gaping hole in her midsection. she looked back up and her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground. the merman with the axe soon ran over. he was yelling and roaring as loud as he could. but that stopped when i fired another beam of energy and it tore right through his chest. he slowed to a halt and dropped on his face.

i looked up only to see a large pointed spear like object heading towards me. it pierced my stomach and pinned me to the wall. i yelled out in pain and grabbed the spear. it wasn't a spear though it was an arrow. it was thick enough to be a spear. i could see my blood mixing in with the water around me. i couldn't pull this out of me and i was still pinned. i looked forward to see the archer slowly swimming towards me. she had another arrow ready. i quickly put up a shield and covered myself.

she let the arrow go and it hit my shield and shattered. she continued to fire arrows at my shield. i was using my tentacles to cut away at the arrow pinning me to the wall. i cut off the front part. i pushed on the wall and slowly started to slide off the shaft of the arrow which was as thick as a golf ball. i pushed myself off and looked at the gaping hole in my chest. i determined on it's position that it was fatal for most ponies... but i would be fine.

she fire another arrow and it hit the shield. the shield cracked. she fired another and it shattered the shield and went through. it whirled by me and sliced my side. i looked at it and the cut was deep, but i would survive.

she reached for another arrow but couldn't find one. she pulled her quiver over and it was empty. i smiled. and got my rays of light ready. she dropped the bow and swam away. i shot my own arrow from in front of me. it was made of light and it was like a spear to her. it shot right through her back and out her chest. she slowly fell to the ground and died.

i floated to the ground and looked at the crystal. it was still the same. i thought it would be a trick but i guess not. i picked it up with my magic and used a few rays of light to break open the stone seal. the pressure of the water flowing out sucked me in and i was hurled down the spiraling ramp. i smashed against the walls a few times and reached the bottom.

the water threw me into the chairs and tables of the great hall. i was pushed along with the water still holding onto the multi weapon and the gem. it forced me against a wall. after a minute the water died down and i got up. i coughed and cleared out the water in my lungs.

i looked around and the water had completely ruined the great hall. chairs and tables were thrown everywhere but the big chair stayed in place. i used my magic to pick up the big blue gem. i walked out of the great hall and into the throne room. the water was everywhere. i really hope it didn't drain in from the lake. but where else could it come from.

i kept walking and made it past the big stone doors. i looked behind me and i was dripping with blood. they were only drips so i was going to be fine. i continued to walk sort of limping a bit. the water threw me into a table and i hit my leg hard. it was sore and swollen near the hoof. i used my wings to fly myself the rest of the way. i flew over to the cave exit and dropped into the water. i pulled the gem in with me. i took in a breath and filled my lungs up with water.

i used my wings to push me along. i used my magic to help too. i was at the other end of the cave and i swam out to the lake bed. i looked around. it doesn't seem like the lake had been drained... but then again it is a big lake.

i looked over and saw all the mermaids crowded around derek. i cringed and looked away. i felt someone swim up behind me and it was eris. she swam in front of me and smiled. but that soon faded when she saw the blood floating in the water around me.

"oh my you're hurt." she said.

"no i'm fine... i've been in worse." i said.

"let me help." she said. she swam behind me and grabbed some seaweed. she looped back around and tied it around my chest area. she kept swimming around and grabbing seaweed and tying it to me. it might not help with healing but at least my skin will be glowing after this. "here this will stop the bleeding." she said.

"thank you but i was fine... i'm not like normal ponies... that's why i use magic without a horn. i can take the collective damage of a thousand ponies and still keep swinging." i said.

"yes but still." she said. i was trying my best to block out the sex noises from behind me but it felt like whenever i tried they would only get louder. "is... is that what i think it is." she said pointing to the blue gem.

"i don't even know what it is... but it caused a lot of trouble." i said. she swam over to it and held it in her hands. she looked into it and stared at the dancing fire inside.

"this is the heart of the ocean." she said. "it has magical properties but it can only be handled in the water." she said.

"yeah i know... i almost burnt my hooves off picking it up." i said turning around to look at her.

"this was a very powerful artifact to my people millions of years ago... but we don't have a use for it anymore... you wen't through the trouble of getting it... you should keep it... the kings trident is enough for us." she said.

"thank you." i said. she looked at me and noticed the bow strung to my back.

"and i see you've found the kings staff, sword... bow. he never had a proper name for it... he just called it the oceans fist." said eris.

"why did he call it that." i asked.

"because of it's magical properties over water." she said. "i hope you take care of it..."

"don't worry... the bow didn't even come with arrows." i said pulling it off me.

"you don't need arrows."she said. just pull on the string. surprised to hear this i held the bow. having a basic understanding of how to shoot a bow but also having no aim with one i turned away as to not hurt anyone.

i held it up with one hoof and used my opposite wing to grab the string i pulled on the string slowly. and little particles of light clustered around the bow and formed an arrow. i pulled back some more and there was a glowing blue arrow ready to be fired. i let go of the string and the arrow flew through the water and stuck into a nearby crystal that was jetting out of the ground.

i pulled a few more times but faster this time. blue arrow fired out and pierced the area around me. i smiled, this thing was sick. i wonder what the staff and sword do. i'll figure those out by myself. i strung the bow over my back and turned around to eris. on my way around i could see the mermaids around derek. it burned my eyes. i quickly now, turned to eris.

"this thing is amazing." i said.

"it is a very powerful weapon." she said. "i hope it helps you should you have to ever fight an evil like shadowfang." she said. i had already forgotten again.

"i never actually killed him... but he almost killed me." i said. i was bleeding on the ground and he had my by the neck... and my friend over there was near death... it was gruesome." i said.

"so then how did you survive." she asked.

"oh... a friend helped us." i said. "scared off shadowfang and healed us good as new." i said she squinted and smiled.

"now there something YOU'RE not telling ME." she said.

"you're right there isn't." i said "and i'm going to tell you... the reason i'm different from other ponies is because i've been blessed with the power of a god... and my friend may have been too... i was not lying before however." i said.

"that's a very big claim... can you prove that." she said. i smiled and started to glow brightly. the symbols on my skin glowed and even shone through the seaweed. they didn't just show through the seaweed but they burned through it. the water around me was hot and almost at boiling point. i stretched out my wings and a flurry of light sparks flew out and my wings glowed bright yellow.

the halo above my head started showing and it shone bright. i opened closed my eyes and when i opened them they were glowing bright golden yellow. and something new. the light stained my coat and it faded to a white color and my hair slowly faded to a golden blonde. i smiled.

"believe me now." i said. eris watched in amazement. then she smiled.

"very impressive." she said. "i do believe you... it's obvious that no normal pony should have that kind of power on their own."

"i get that alot sometimes." i said. i looked over and saw the other mermaids were staring. they swam away from derek and over to me. i was thinking how rude that was but i noticed he was out from the exhaustion. they swam over and started circling me closely.

"oh..." one of them said stroking my chest with her finger. "i never knew you were this strong." she said smiling. she swam back into the circle and another mermaid swam in and started circling around me.

"oh look at his muscles." she said seductively. she wrapped around me and brought her face close to mine. she looked at me seductively and i stared her in the eyes menacingly. she swam back and joined the others.

"surely a brave and strong adventurer like you must be good at his job." said another mermaid stroking me from the base of my tail up my spine and to my neck. "you must be filthy rich and famous." she said. she swam back in with the crowd.

i felt one of the mermaids grab my front hoof and try and pull me. i remained where i stood. they tried to lift me up and get me on my back but i remained planted to the ground. it was kind of funny watching them try. i didn't want to hurt them so didn't use my magic to push or throw them away. and i didn't want to scare them either.

"c'mon." one of them said. "relax and have some fun." the same mermaid swam up next to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. she pulled herself close to me and pressed her breasts up against my chest. i just stared her in the eyes.

"i would stop that if i were you." i said.

"you're blessed with a god..." she said. "you wouldn't hurt an innocent mermaid would you." she bit her lip innocently then laughed. she leaned in to try and kiss me but i shouted and the force pushed them all back a couple of feet.

"trust me." i said. "i can either be friendly or i could be the scariest thing you've ever seen." i said. the mermaids soon started circling around me. they were relentless.

"you're not scary." said one of them "your handsome and strong." she said. i just smiled.

"alright then." i said calmly. "don't say i didn't warn you." i closed my eyes and let my colors slowly fade to black. even the symbols faded black. i was letting the demon side of me show itself. i had tested this out but once on my trip back to ponyville. it do now have complete control over the demon. but i don't use it out of a fear i may lose control again. a fear that i got over a while ago.

i let out a terrible roar and it pushed all the mermaids. back. i exploded in a torrent of black flames. the flames surrounded me and burned strong despite that we're underwater. i showed my teeth which were now fangs and i opened my eyes which burned a deep black. it felt good to be back in black.

i spread out my wings and they were dark and covered in shadowy smoke. i sucked the shadows from the lake bed and pulled them under me. i let a few tentacles rise out of the pool of burning shadows under me. i took a deep breath. i felt very powerful.

i hate to admit it but i was stronger in this form. i used my shadows to make my armour and weave my hood and mask. though the blessing of god is in me that is but for protection. and in the forest when the demon and the power of god met they combined. i was later able to separate them but the demon took some of the blessings power with him. making it stronger, but completely unable to control me. i was the one calling the shots now. but i was certain i would only use this in certain situations or as a failsafe. nopony knows about this yet.

i looked around and smiled at the horrified faces of the mermaids. they hid behind crystals and some hid behind others. i looked over to see eris still floating there. she had her arms crossed and a sort of smirk on her face.

"you didn't tell me that part." she said.

"well you weren't supposed to know about this part." i said. "i used to always be like this but then i was blessed by a god... the fact that i can still turn into this form is a secret darker than the shadows i hunt in." i said. "i'm warning you now... tell no one, not even him." i said pointing to derek still passed out of the ground over in the distance. eris smiled.

"don't worry if there's one thing mermaids are good at it's keeping secrets." she said. i swam upwards and near the surface.

"i apologize if i frightened you." i said reverting back to normal. "but i'm not interested... you can still have my friend if you want him... but i need him back by sunrise." i said. i used my magic to grab the oceans heart and i swam to the surface.

i breached the surface and coughed the water from my lungs. i walked off of the sandy shore and into the short grass near it. i placed the oceans heart down on the grass and sat down too. i suddenly remembered the heart is burning hot out of water. i looked over and expected there to be a small fire in the grass around me...but there wasn't.

i reached out and poked the gem and i burned myself again. it was burning hot but it didn't burn. that's an interesting statement. i just let it be. i laid down and looked up at the night sky. i let the calm night breeze cool and dry me off. this was peaceful. they hadn't thrown derek out of the water yet so they're probably still having their way with him.

i closed my eyes but that didn't last long when i heard a rustling in the taller grass out further in the field. i got up slowly and looked out over the field. i unstrung the bow from my back and held it. there was more rustling and i pulled back on the bow. a bright blue glowing arrow was ready to be fired and i looked around.

i looked around and then i heard a snarling. i saw red eyes in the tall grass. and slowly walked out a large black wolf with red burning eyes... shadowfang. i was wondering when he would try and fight me. i was about to fire my arrow right at him when something disturbing happened... he spoke.

"you have a demon in you." he said he sniffed the air. "i can smell it."

"so you can speak." i said.

"of course...because i am a wolf now doesn't make me any less of a threat... i was stuck with this body but i have taken over now... and i've been everywhere in this world stealing the souls of powerful beings." he said.

"i figured so... even though you control the wolves body it still will die and grow old... and you need souls to keep it young and alive." i said.

"yes... like i said i've collected the souls of many powerful beasts... but yours... yours is something else... with your soul i will be unstoppable. and i would have had your soul too. if it weren't for that man and his sacred light... he saved you but now... now it's my turn." he said.

he jumped out at me and i fired the arrow right into his chest. i ducked and he flew over me. he landed and slid on the ground. the arrow in his chest dissipated and left the open wound. he ran at me and i fired two more arrows. one missed and the other got him in his shoulder.

he barked and jumped me. he tore the bow out of my hands. i used my powers to cover myself in armour and i started glowing now and i pushed him off with the force of a single shout. he flew into the air and landed with a thud on the ground he got buck up. i was using my holy powers to destroy him.

"why didn't you just suck my soul out before the sacred man scared you away." i said curiously.

"because of that infernal light of yours... it protects your soul... but i can put it out and then steal your soul. he said. he barked loudly and the shadows from near him shot out at me. i met them evenly with rays of light. the light was too much and they destroyed the shadows and rocketed into the ground like missiles. shadow fang jumped out of the way and jumped me.

he knocked me down and sunk his teeth into my arm. i yelled out in pain and he bit down harder. i used a beam of light to skewer him. he whined and let go. he rolled off of me and got back up.

"it will take much more to kill me foolish mortal." he said.

"oh i know... you think i am the same... lets dance." i said. he bared his teeth and i showed mine. i lashed out at him with more rays of light but he dodged them and jumped me again. this time he went for my neck but i put my other hoof in the way and he started biting into that. he bit it a couple times like he was chewing it and then sunk his teeth in. he wiped his head around and tore the skin and tissue. i yelled in pain again.

we rolled around and i lashed out as many rays of light as i could to get him off. i skewered him a few more times and slashed him across the neck and chest. he held on. his grip strengthened and it started to crack and break my bone. i yelled in pain. i rolled over to the heart of the ocean.

i pulled over and stuck his head onto the burning gem and put weight on him. he started whimpering and whining. he started yelping and let go. he tried to break free but i stabbed him some more with rays of light. i felt a sever pain in my side and saw a shadow sticking right through my body. it picked me up and flung me to the ground with allot of force. i hit the ground with a thud and let out a cry of pain.

i looked over to shadows fang getting up off of the heart of the ocean. the entire half of his face was burned and charred. it looked ugly as fuck. so apparently it burns ponies and animals... just not, anything else. he growled at me and i fired a volley of holy arrows straight at him. he shot up a few shadows in defense but could not block them all. he get hit at least eight times. mostly in the chest. on in the leg and i got lucky and got his neck.

he let out a howl and another shadow flew out from the dark and pierced my through the side. i picked me up and whipped me around violently. i smashed me against the ground multiple times and i screamed in pain. he let go and dropped me to the ground. most of my bones were broken or not in one full piece. i slowly got up. i could taste blood.

he quickly ran over. he lept from a great distance and it was in that moment i could feel time slow down. without me doing anything a bright cross shaped light formed in front of me. it glowed brightly and then fired from it a laser so powerful it shook the earth and made waves in the lake. i let out a fierce battle cry and it grew brighter.

it was so powerful and bright i swore i thought it was day for a second. there was a shout of pain from shadowfang... but then there was nothing. i kept yelling out my battle cry but when my voice died down so did the laser. soon it was just the glowing cross and then that vanished...holy shit.

i saw the charred body of the powerful shadowfang crumble to ash before it hit the ground and get carried away with the night time breeze. i smiled. i don't know how because i was still in pain and i was out of energy. thinking about the only thing i could do i used my magic to grab the bow and the heart and walk to the water. i strung the bow over my back and walked.

i only made it so far before i was exhausted and couldn't use my magic to keep a hold of the heart and it fell into the shallow water. i tried to go and get it but i collapsed and fell in the shallow water. i reached out and touched the gem. it was in water so it was cold. i rubbed it and it glowed. it shined bright.

it shot out a shockwave over the water that caused a large ripple. it stopped glowing and just laid there just like me. i laid in the shallow water and slowly bleed out tired and in a lot of pain. i could soon feel something on my back. it was a hand the another and another. they pulled me and dragged me into the water. i just smiled. when my head was submerged in water i took in small breath and filled my lungs with water.

i could feel the sand under me vanish and i was sinking again. the feeling of sinking helped me relax. i kept sinking until i hit the lake bed. the hands grabbed my arm and flipped me onto my back. i looked up to the worried faces of the mermaids, including eris's. i tried to say something but i couldn't force any words from my mouth.

"he's hurt really bad... if we don't help he's going to die." i heard eris say.

"we can't help him. we aren't doctors." said one of the mermaids.

"well we have to do something." eris said.

"eris, eris." said a distant mermaid. "i have the heart."

"perfect that could help him... quickly." she said. the mermaid rushed over and handed the heart to eris. "oh i hope this works." she said. she moved the heart closer to me and it started glowing. i looked down and saw that the heart symbol on my chest started glowing too.

i saw little wisps of energy fly from the oceans heart to my own heart. and from mine to the oceans. as the two got closer the flow of energy grew brighter and more concentrated. she placed the heart on my chest and i glowed brighter than ever before. and so did my heart symbol. i watched as all my symbols started glowing their bright yellow.

the yellow soon faded near my heart symbol and started fading blue. the blue color started traveling outward and turned all the symbols blue. i watched as the oceans heart started sinking into my chest. admittedly i did start to freak out and struggle but they only thought i was in pain and held me down. i calmed down and watched the heart sink fully into me. my whole body now shined bright blue and there was a large series of shock waves emanating from me, like a heartbeat.

i looked down to see that the heart of the ocean was now much smaller than it was before. it could fit in my hoof. i reached out to grab it off my chest and it started glowing brightly. i grabbed it and my body glowed blue for a second and then faded. i was definitely different now. i took a deep breath.

that breath wasn't like before it was fresh. i automatically assumed that i could breathe water now on a normal regimen. i looked around and i could see everything perfectly in the water. i took another deep breath. before it felt like i was breathing in a liquid but now it feels like i'm taking in pure oxygen. i felt stronger now.

"oh thank neptune it worked." said eris.

"we watched the whole battle from the lake... we wanted to help but there was nothing we could do." one mermaid said.

"yeah we watched you fire that huge beam of light... it hurt our eyes so we looked away but when we looked back shadowfang was gone." said a different mermaid.

"i knew he was out there and i went to go and get you." said eris. "but by the time i surfaced you two were already fighting."

"thank you." i said. "all of you... you saved my life... which happens disturbingly too often." i added. "if you ever need anything... pray for it." i said. "i will hear it and i will come and help."

"alright... but not much happens in the water." said eris. "you can have your friend back now." she said. two mermaids carried him over and floated him up to the surface. i smiled and looked at eris.

"thanks" i said. "and i do hope that you're race will survive."

"well we always find a way to survive." said eris.

"me too." i said. we smiled and waved goodbye. i swam up to the surface. i could swim pretty fast now actually. after a few seconds i breached the surface and landed on the beach.

i held the oceans heart in my hoof. it didn't burn me anymore. it felt like a regular stone. i guess because it's power was in me now. i smiled and used my magic to bring my bags over. i put the heart in my bag and closed it up.

i set down derek and he started hacking a coughing trying to clear his lungs. i slapped him across the face and he sprung to life and coughed up all the water in his lungs. i shook his head and looked around.

"i'm...back on land." he said "oh my god..." he said and he fell onto his face. i smiled and kicked him a bit. "i can't feel my legs."

"i take it you had some fun..."i said smiling. "they can be very assertive, i already know."

"how long was it." he asked. i looked up to the sky and the sun was rising over the tree's.

"... i'd say all night long." i said. "while you were having fun i fixed the wolf problem..."

"really... how."he asked trying to get up but falling back on his face.

"simple... i just killed the alpha male." i said. "don't let my condition fool you... it almost killed me." i said.

"how are you alright now." he asked.

"oh well there's a mystical gem that i found. it was in a palace in the caves. it's called the heart of the ocean and to heal me the mermaids bound it with my body." i said.

"so you're like part of the ocean now... like fucking aquaman." he said.

"i guess so yeah... but you know more usefull." i said.

"nice." he said. "so i was wondering... that maybe you could...uh." i cut him off.

"you want me to carry your dumb as home." i said. "don't you." he just looked up at me and smiled. i sighed and rolled my eyes. i used my magic to pick him up and throw him over my back. i carried him across the plain and into the forest. i walked for a at least half an hour.

after a while i was starting to get tired. it's most likely the sudden rush of energy i had before leaving my body. i was slowing down. it was only ten minutes later that i was really getting tired but i pulled through. i figured it was also probably from the lack of sleep. after a while though i finally got back to my house. it was still the same and littered with the corpses of wolves.

i walked into the house and threw derek on the couch. he bounced off however and fell to the floor. i just laughed and walked into the kitchen while he just yelled at me. i opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. i walked out and chugged it.

"what i don't get one." he said.

"no... it was the last one." i said. "c'mon lets go... were going to twilight's."

"why." he asked.

"first my wife is there... and second she might be able to help me understand what the mermaids stuck into my body... now lets go before my buzz wears off." i said picking him up off the floor and throwing him over my back.

i walked out the front door and out into the streets of ponyville. i strutted my way through tired and sore. a lot of the ponies walking the streets stopped and said hi. others followed behind me and asked me questions. others took pictures. i guess this is what it's like to be famous. i already hate the paparazzi.

after a while of walking i made it to twilight's house. i walked up and without even knocking i opened the door and walked in. i closed the door behind me and looked around nopony home. i set derek down in the corner and sat down against the door.

"knock knock." i yelled. i heard a bit of rummaging upstairs and a light flickered on. twilight walked down the stairs with her eyes almost closed shut and her hair was a mess. "morning twilight... sleep well."

"you could at least knock." she said opening her eyes and floating a brush over to straighten her mane.

"didn't have the energy." i said.

"did you have a fun adventure." she asked smiling.

"that's one word to describe it." i said.

"oh it was fun for me." said derek.

"where did you two even go." she said. i was going to answer but derek said something before me.

"we went to some huge lake out in the forest and met some mermaids." he said. twilight dropped her brush.

"you two idiots found mermaids." she said.

"no..." i said. "i found them... two days ago and i showed them to derek. i went there to get some information about the wolf attack and they were very helpful... they told me everything about them and their people." i said.

"oh yeah then what happened." asked twilight. she was silently judging me.

"millions of years ago central equestria used to be nothing but one large body of water and the mermaids had a huge city here. but they started fighting with the land ponies and some things lead to other. in the end they almost went extinct... i don't have the energy right now to tell the whole story." i said. "give me a couple hours to rest and i will show you."

"i might have to take you upon that." said twilight. "so neither of you two are hurt... what's wrong." she asked.

"i'm tired as fuck." i said.

"and i can't feel my legs." continued derek.

"now you say mermaids... don't you mean merfolk" she said.

"nope... just mermaids... there were no men." i said.

"oh... that's unfortunate... now they'll never repopulate." she said

"that won't be a problem." me and derek both said together. twilight took a second but when it clicked her eyes shrunk and she looked at us in disgust.

"oh...oh gross... that's disgusting... and crimson you're... you're married." she said. i rolled my eyes and smiled.

"chill twilight..." i said. "when i first met them they had their way with me and i already told dash... she forgave me... this time they had their fun with derek here... and he'll be fine." i said. twilight looked over at us. her head darted between the both of us.

"how the hell did they overpower you two." she said. "i can get maybe derek but really... you crimson." she said.

"well i didn't want to hurt them or freak them out... plus i couldn't think straight. and besides they can swim fast. i would never have gotten away."i said.

"ugh... the two of you... i mean... the shit you two do when you leave ponyville...one of these days... i swear it's all going to come up behind you and kick you both in the ass." said twilight.

"so what i'll buy and ass protector." i said. derek laughed. "now there are a few things i need help with." i said.

"let me guess you two found something that looks dangerous , valuable, or most likely to destroy the entire town of ponyville and you want to know what it is." she said rolling her eyes.

"well he did...i stayed with the mermaids." said derek.

"what the... c'mon, show some sort of pride." said twilight. "a true gentlecolt never kisses and tells." said twilight.

"he also doesn't shag and brag." i said to derek. we both snickered at the joke and he started laughing silently. twilight just rolled her eyes.

"what do you want to know." she said. i grabbed the bow from my back and pulled it over. i held it up and she looked at it. "great you found a fancy looking bow... without arrows i may add." she said. she turned around to get a few things. i rolled my eyes.

as she was levitating a few books in front of her i pulled back on the string of the bow. i had a sudden feeling like i knew what i was doing. the blue light arrow formed and i aimed. twilight opened one of the books and i fired the arrow. it pierced right through the open book and twilight freaked. i smiled and held the bow down.

"what the fuck." she yelled. "are you crazy."

"probably... but at least i know that i'm accurate." i said. "so you were saying about a bow without arrows." i smiled at her and she just scolded me again.

"well be careful. that is quite impressive but be careful." she said.

"oh but twilight wait it gets better." i said. i pressed the little black gem on the bow and it shot out into a staff. it finished changing and i caught it just as it fell from the air. i saw the expression on twilight's face change. "each form is magical..." i said but she cut me off.

"each...each form." she said.

"yep... it turns into a sword too." i said. i pushed the button again and threw the staff into the air. it folded into a hilt and the steel glade shot out of it. i caught the hilt and gave the sword a few light swings. " the bow makes it's own arrows... i have yet to figure out what the staff and sword do... but i'm pretty sure it's cool."

"let me see that." said twilight. i handed her the sword and she grabbed it. she looked at it and screamed in pain. small pointed spikes stuck out from all around the sword even the blade. she dropped it and stumbled back. "aaaahhhh...what the hell. you fucking asshole." she yelled at me. i was a shocked as she was.

"holy shit." said derek.

"twilight i swear to god... that was not my fault." i said.

"gah... dammit... nngh FUCK that hurts." she said clutching her hoof.

"quit being a baby let me see." i said. she sneered at me but limped over. she sat down next to me and held out her hoof. it had a bunch of stab wounds but she was fine. i looked over to the sword and the spikes shot right back into it, i looked back at twilight who looked like she was really hurt.

"ow... watch it." she said pulling her hoof back.

"i haven't moved since you gave me you're hoof." i said. she held her hoof out again and i held the half of it that didn't have holes in it. "oh c'mon now twilight you need to toughen up... it's just a few stabs, and in your hoof too." i added. "you're just lucky that it didn't electrocute you are kill you." i said.

"yeah just think about all the crap me and crimson face every day." said thunder in the corner still.

"well you two are the ones who decide to go on these crazy adventures all the time." she said. "at least you guys stay close and don't travel around all of equestria." she had a point. we did stay close to home very all the time.

"here." i said. "let me fix that." i let a few symbols around my hoof start to glow and a magical light like substance emanated from my hands and covered twilight's hoof. she let out a sigh.

"that feels nice." she said smiling. the light faded and her hoof was healed. "thanks."

"yeah no problem... and i promise i didn't have anything to do with that... it was just as shocking to me... more or less." i said. i looked over to the sword.

"i know... it must be some kind of self defense charm." she said. "i recognize the gem on it... and how it doesn't change with the rest of the weapon. it's a bonding crystal. that means it can only be wielded by one being and nopony else can touch it unless that one being is dead." she used her horn and focused it on the sword. her horn glowed but the sword didn't

"it must be powerful then." said derek.

"it is... i can't even lift it with my magic." she said.

"crap...i'm too tired to get up and get it... and healing you has drained me of what little energy i was already building up." i said. i reached my hoof out to try and grab it as a joke.

"what can you use the force now." said derek. we both laughed. but we stopped laughing when the sword flew from the ground and into my hoof. i didn't even notice it until i felt it in my hoof. we all stared at it in a bit of shock, and amazement. "you uhh... you're not a jedi are you." he said.

"no... no i'm not, but that's cool." i said.

"i don't know what you two are freaking about but i told you it has a bonding crystal on it. this sword would burn and tear its way through any material to get back to it's master." said twilight. "don't expect to sell this. it can't be sold because of the bond..." she said.

"ah hell no..." i said. "i'm keeping this thing."

"hey... how come dash hasn't gotten up yet." said derek.

"yeah... she's not a very light sleeper, and we haven't exactly been using indoor voices." i added.

"she never decided to come over." said twilight. "she wen't to fluttershy's cottage to stay with your kids... scootaloo's a bit upset and lonely." said twilight. "she thinks that you're not going to be her dad for much longer."

"what... why would she think that." i said.

"well it's not between you and dash... it's just you." said twilight.

"what about me... twilight i need to know." i said.

"well c'mon." she said. "it's obvious... you're gone all the time. and whenever she does see you it's at night... don't think she doesn't know what you do. you go out and keep getting yourself killed... you are truly the luckiest bastard i've ever seen." she said. "you've cheated death way too many times... she's afraid she's going to lose you."

"why didn't she tell me." i said.

"she... she didn't want to make you worry... she was afraid to say something because...well... she thought that it would stress you out and you wouldn't be able to concentrate and you would get hurt or get her or dash hurt." said twilight.

"damn." i said. "she thought that far ahead into this." twilight nodded her head and looked away feeling bad. "thank you for telling me twilight... unfortunately i'm still exhausted..."

"and i still can't feel my legs." said derek butting in.

"yeah and there's that." i said. "you don't mind if we stay a while and rest up do you."

"no...of course not... here you must be hungry. i'll go get us some breakfast." said twilight trotting into the kitchen. i rested my head on my shoulder while still leaning against the door. i looked at the weapon in my hand. i studied it for a few minutes and twilight came out with breakfast. she floated and plate of food over to me and one to derek. then she gave us drinks and we ate. she sat down and ate herself.

"thanks twilight." i said eating my food. derek nodded his head in agreement with what i just said. we ate our food and i drank the glass of milk she gave me. she took the plates and flew them into the kitchen. then she walked back and sat down.

"so these mermaids." she asked. "what were they like."

"well since i was awake to see their true colors i'll answer that." i said.

"yeah probably best if you do." said derek.

"well after my first trip where i helped them escape from a pot of water in an underwater cave they tricked me into well... you know." i said.

"so when you found them they were trapped... for how long and how did they survive." twilight asked.

"well they were trapped in a pot of water unable to get to the exit of the cave which was a flooded tunnel that lead to the lake. as for how they survived one of the mermaids eris told me that before the cave, which where their homes, was drained of water they had frozen them in that cave until somepony found them." i said.

"alright... how long have they been frozen and how did you unfreeze them." asked twilight.

"well they had been frozen for i think it was 4000 years." i said twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise. "and when i first dipped my hooves into the water these magical gems that light up started glowing all over the place. they also give off heat which made the water warm and they also melted the mermaids." i said.

"alright... so how else are they like." she asked.

"well i got to know them... and they're not as bad as i thought. they were kind enough to care for my wounds after i explored their ancient palace." i said.

"wait wait wait... you found the ancient merfolk palace." said twilight.

"yep... it's an hour away from my backyard... that's where i found this weapon. she said it was the kings weapon, eris told me he called it the fist of the sea." i said. "i also found the trident of the merfolk king... i let them keep the trident.

"was there a giant blue gem there." she asked.

"shaped like a heart yes... they called it the heart of the ocean." i said.

"where is it..." she said. "can you show it to me." she said. she hopped over to me excitedly and her eyes were glistening.

"i take it this is a very rare gem." i said.

"it's one of the ten are elemental gems. earth, air, fire, water, nature, energy, ice, poison, light, and darkness." she said excitedly. "the heart of the ocean is of course the one controlling water... this, this has never been done before. they were rumored to be only myths but, but you found it. let me see it. please please please." she said.

"alright alright... calm down." i said. i reached over to my bags and opened up one of the pouches. i pulled out the oceans heart and showed it to twilight. "here it is." i said holding out the gem. her face lit up and she snatched it from my hoof. she held it up to the light and looked at it and smiled.

"sweet celestia" she said. "this is it... this is really it... it's even got the elemental fire burning inside of it... this is amazing, who would have thought." she said looking at the burning gem. "i thought it would be bigger."

"oh it was." i said. "it was about five times the size... well guarded too by a bunch of living statues... put up a good fight." i said. "it used to be untouchable too outside of water. it would only burn animals and ponies. not plants or clothes... just moving things." i said. she looked over in confusion.

"well what happened to it." she asked.

"well." i said, laughing and rubbing the back of my head. "it's a bit of a long story."

"tell me what you did." she said seeming a bit upset.

"alright so i got information from the mermaids about the wolf attack. turns out it was an ancient wolf named shadowfang. he is like how i was. he had a demon in him and he sucked the souls from powerful creatures to keep himself young and immortal." i said. "still with me."

"at this point i would believe you if you told me equestria exploded." she said in a mellow tone while crossing her arms.

"okay great, so after i found the gem i went back to the surface with it and sure enough there was shadowfang... we exchanged some witty banter because apparently he could talk... and then we fought." i said using my hooves to depict what happened. "so after we fought. i shot some kind of incredibly powerful laser from my chest in the shape of the cross."

"you're right." said derek. "this is a long story."

"shut up." i said. "so anyway after the battle i fell to the ground because i was really badly hurt. i fell in the water and pulled the oceans heart closer to me for some reason i don't remember. then the mermaids pulled me back in the water with the heart. they put the heart to my chest and it started glowing. and so did my heart here." i said.

i pointed to the heart shaped picture on my chest. pointing at it now made me notice that it had changed. it was the same basic shape but styled differently. it was sort of like a curvish design like the ocean. it made sense.

"and then it glowed like bright blue and so did i... and , and." i said. i was sweating bullets. twilight might actually kill me for this. "they may have embedded the power of the oceans heart to save me... and i may be some kind of ocean god and not know it." i said. i put on a fake smile and she just stared right through me.

"your fucking ridiculous." she said.

"you don't believe me." she said.

"no... that's the problem...i do." she said. "do you ever just stop."

"stop what." i asked.

"turning yourself into some kind of all powerful hybrid... freak." she said.

"well i'm sorry i decided that last night wasn't going to be a good night to die." i said. "besides there's nothing i could do stop them... i was practically dead, besides the gem is right there and it's obviously the real thing." i said. pointing to the gem in twilight's hoof. "what's the deal."

"i'm not mad that you did what you could and took the power from this crystal... but honestly all that power is going to be too much, and you're going to explode." she said.

"that can't happen." said derek.

"now that she mentioned it i have a feeling it actually might." i said.

"you won't actually explode." she said. "but in all magical beings if they don't use a good amount of their total magic every now and then it causes magical build up. in unicorns this isn't a problem because we can release the build up by well... relaxing the uh horn." she said blushing.

"so it's like a hoofjob for your head." said derek. he burst out laughing when twilight blushed even more. "that's too funny." i thought it was quite funny too but i just snickered to myself.

"this is serious... it's not easy to release any magical build up in being that don't have a horn or appendage to channel magic from. it causes magical fluctuations inside of the pony and around them based on how powerful they are." she said.

"is that it." said derek still laughing.

"no... in a pony like you crimson those fluctuations could stretch for miles and you would be in a state of unreal pain constantly until the magical aura inside of you breaks lose and destroys your body completely and everything around you." she said.

"great now i have that to worry about." i said.

"well the only way to stop it is to put a great deal of concentration and energy into pouring out as much magical aura as you can through any means necessary." she said.

"alright twilight don't worry." i said.

"remember crimson with great power comes great responsibility." she said. i rolled my eyes.

"twilight it's fine... you know better than anypony that i can handle myself and i always find a way through it." i said.

"well if you can't release the energy during magical build up there are other ways." she said. "but they are quite unpleasant."

"and those would be." i said.

"well first the gland that produces and stores the magic inductive aura in the body can be multiplied with only the purpose of storing it... but this causes discoloration of coat, olfactory failures like blindness and loss of hearing, and it causes deformities." she said.

"alright and what else." i asked.

"you don't need to hear the last one... no pony has been crazy enough to do it in hundreds of years." she said. "and you just might be the one pony to consider it."

"twilight just tell me." i said.

"well when the magical build up occurs the passage ways of magic flare and can be seen faintly like yours but just showing through the skin. in this method." she said pausing and twiddling her hooves. "...you can carve through the skin and muscle all the way to the passageways surrounding the bone."

"oh god that's sick." said derek. he was cringing at the thought. i was too.

" the carvings would have to be traced all over the body. while there will be bleeding the veins and arteries will heal but the muscle won't. this is because this procedure allows the energy literally drain from your body. the substance is highly volatile and affects anything it changes. the whole process causes immense pain but when the build up is done there won't be enough energy being released to the body and the wounds will heal. but until they do heal the user cannot use magic until then." she said.

"that's uhm... a bit of a drastic procedure." i said. "i'm already starting to regret letting this topic bring itself up." i said.

"promise me you won't be that stupid or reckless." she said.

"i promise to make sure i don't get magical build up and cut myself open or kill everypony. or myself." i said. "besides i haven't heard of this before or seen it. it must not happen that often."

"it doesn't really... if a pony does experience magical buildup it's usually the only time in their life that they do." she said. "so i'm not particularly worried... just be careful."

"alright twilight." i said. we both smiled. "why don't we skip to a different subject."

"sure...uh." she thought for a moment. she looked at the blue crystal. "so do you know what this thing has done to you yet." she asked.

"i don't really know. i don't spend a lot of time swimming." i said. "it did make me swim faster though... and i think i can breath in oxygen through water without gills." i said. "but i'm not really sure since i was using a potion of underwater breathing."

"alright... i'm pretty sure these things will present themselves in time." she said "what about that weapon. does that do anything special." she asked.

"all i know is the bow makes it's own arrows. it might do something else but i don't know and i have no idea what the sword and staff do. but whatever it is. it's probably cool and has something to do with water." i said.

"hey i think i can feel my legs again." said derek. he moved around and got onto all four of his hooves. he was a bit wobbly and almost fell a few times but he got on all fours and could walk around. "finally i can walk... i'm sick of the water, it's good to walk again." he said.

i was feeling pretty well rested myself. i slowly made my way onto my stomach and tried pushing myself up. but my front hooves gave in and i fell hitting my head. i made a thud and i moaned and just fell limp on the floor. i sat myself back against the door. i was still sore and tired.

"i guess you're not as well rested as your friend." said twilight.

"well the only thing he did was fuck around with the mermaids and then fall asleep two hours into it... at least i stayed awake for more than five hours." i said. i was shouting a bit. i was a bit mad about the circumstances.

"dude chill." said derek. "this ain't a contest... the fact that i got up first only proves that you did more than i did." he said.

"you're still tired out. you need to rest." said twilight using her magic to move me from the door to a chair.

"yeah but i don't feel tired. i'm wide awake. i just explained all that shit to you a second ago." i said.

"yeah, but you're physically exhausted not mentally." she said. "your sore and you're muscles need to recover protiene... derek you can go home or do... whatever it is you do." said twilight. "crimson i'll get you some food so you can recover quickly."

"alright then... bye crimson, bye twilight."he said walking out the door.

"wait derek." i said but it was too late he didn't hear me and he was gone already. "damnit" i said. i wanted him to stop and get dash and scootaloo for me. oh well. i'm sure it can't possibly take long before i recover.

"here i brought you a sandwich a glass of milk and a jug of water. you're going to have to stay hydrated." she said. "you better eat up now it might be awhile until you recover." she said. i let out a sigh and started eating the sandwich. she sat down on a chair and just watched me. it was a bit uncomfortable.

"uhm... twilight, is there something i ca help you with?." i asked wondering why she was staring at me.

"no sorry, that was rude of me... i'm just trying to understand how you work." she said.

"what do you mean understand how i work." i asked taking another bite of the sandwich.

"well i can usually figure out the mannerisms and characteristics of a pony in a few weeks if i get to know them. and from there i can make some possible outcomes of what they would do next in a situation... but you... i'm still trying to figure how you work." she repeated.

"i'll take that as a compliment." i said

"i've narrowed my results to know that you are pure of heart and soul. you would never hurt the innocent and you can get angry and carried away in action or excitement." she said.

"well it sounds like you know me pretty well." i said.

"yes but the problem is i can't stop thinking about the different ways you would handle a situation... different possible outcomes just keep popping into my head... so can you answer a question for me." she asked.

"sure... is this going to be a scenario kind of question." i asked.

"yes... i just want to know what you would do." she said. "and then compare it to what my outcomes were... be as realistic as possible."

"alright twilight, this should be fun. ask away." i said.

"if you were fighting a dragon... lets say it breathes fire and is very powerful, but it's big and slow... how would you kill it." she asked.

"where am i fighting this dragon." i asked.

"in the middle of a wasteland... its hot, dry and there's nothing to take cover behind. and because of the heat you would dehydrate quickly."

"well i would let the dragon attack first. i would assume that it's initial attack would be to breathe fire at me. so i would run off to the side and wait. i would let it attack again and block with a shield. once the flames were gone i would move closer. he would probably try and eat me if he is a big dragon i might just be a snack. and while his mouth was open. i would lash out and stab him through the roof of the mouth and destroy the brain. he would either die or for some reason if he survived i would leave him with no chance of survival." i finished my long battle plan.

"you see my conclusions were nothing like that. i planned for you to take out the lags cut the throat or even attack the heart... why did you choose what you did." she asked.

"well i let him attack me twice with fire because the heat of the flames would soften the roof of his mouth for my attack and i could destroy it. i didn't go for the legs because they weren't a problem. he's too big and slow, they wouldn't help him. the throat of the dragon would be a difficult target because of the dragons thick scales and based on the fact that he lives in the wasteland they're probably rock solid and tough as diamond. same for the heart." i said.

"but not the inside... it makes sense." said twilight.

"have you figured out how i work yet." i asked.

"i still have no idea... but i've concluded that you think with relentless speed and can easily plan a battle situation. you don't mind if i ask you a few more do you." twilight asked.

"of course not." i said smiling. "these are fun."

"alright... if you were tied to a chair in some strange place what would you do." asked twilight.

"i would wait a day to see if anypony shows their face. i would suspect them to be the pony that did this and i would remember their face. if they had intentions to harm my family or harm me in any sort of crippling or destructive way i would break free and kill them right there. if not wait till they leave and break free. i would escape through any windows if available. if not then use my invisibility to escape to the outside of the place i'm being held captive in. i would locate where the place is then stalk the pony that took me to see if he's working with a group or mob. if not i would kill him silently and without a mess. if he is i would watch him for a while and see who he works for... i would then hunt down and undermine their whole operation." i said.

"now what the hell... i had nothing as complicated as that planned out... but when i think about it, it sounds like something you would do. it's so overly complicated and devious that it would work." she said.

"any more." i asked.

"no... i'm done. you and only one other pony have completely eluded me." she said.

"let me guess... pinkie." i said.

"yes... her only comparable mannerisms are that she's spontaneous, random, and unpredictable... i can always expect her to act randomly and without reason."

"twilight i should tell you that when i was in the military we were evaluated and they described my manneristic personality." i said.

"why didn't you tell me." she said

"because these questions were fun... besides it wouldn't have helped."

"well tell me anyway." she begged.

"well they labeled me as a class A ultimatum. that meant i had it all and then some. only very few got this review. that's why i'm the commander of one of the most revered squads in the entire military. i had a mindset that surpassed even histories greatest poets and warriors. i had good physical strength stamina accuracy and all that other stuff was a bit above the average level. there were even charts... do you want to know what they looked like." i asked her.

"uhm... sure." she said.

"well they were bar graphs...simple to read and understand." i said. "they wen't from zero to 100 and that was you're grade that you got. they used this to determine where to put you in the army. you wanted to get past the 50 marker to make an impression. they got these numbers through a variety of mental and physical tests. all of my stats fell in between the 70 and 80 percentiles. except for three" i said.

"what are the stats." asked twilight.

"there were ten of them" i said. "there was strength, fitness and cardio, accuracy, speed, agility, logical thinking, ability to listen and carry out orders, ability to survive, stealth, and mental ordinance." i said. "mental ordinance is the ability to plan, execute, analyze, strategize, and adapt."

"is that one of the ones that was different." she said. i continued from where i was though.

"there were 50 tests. all were grueling and exhausting and put in random order. but each test helped. there were five tests for every category and each test was vastly different. as for my chart. the only three that i got differently were, logical thinking, ability to survive, and mental ordinance." i said.

"i must say you humans take you're war seriously. i can't really remember the last time there was ever a war in equestria. there have been riots and civil disputes. but never before have we had wars with other ponies." she said.

"like i was saying." i said staring at her. she listened. "for logical thinking i got an 100 the same for ability to survive... but my mental ordinance wasn't placed on the graph. there was no bar and no grade. i went and saw a commanding officer about it. you know what he said?" i said.

"what." said twilight.

"he said i didn't think at all." i said twilight's face changed to an expression of confusion. "he said that i didn't think he said that i knew what to do already. so he took the paper from my hands and he drew this symbol over the graph." i said. i picked up a paper and quill and drew a symbol on it. "you know what this is right twilight." i said holding it up.

"yes it's the symbol for infinity." she said. "that's quite impressive."

"see twilight even now... i'm thinking of everything that i could possibly have to worry about. and i don't even notice it half the time. i just know what to do. it's scares me sometimes...so does that help twilight... i'm not unpredictable... i've just got it all figured out in my head."

"that does scare me a bit..." she said. "and yes it does help." she looked over to the pitcher of water on the table next to me. "you should really drink up." she said.

"i can't pick it up..." i said. twilight's horn glowed and a straw levitated from the kitchen and she placed it in the pitcher. i leaned over and started sipping it down.

"how did you know you couldn't pick it up." she asked.

"i didn't know for sure... i also run statistics in my head constantly as well. the chances that i was going to be too weak to pick up this heavy pitcher were 8 to 10, i don't like those odds so i asked for a straw and avoided a mess." i said. twilight's eyes went to the ceiling and i could tell she was doing a bit of math. after a couple of seconds she stopped.

"you... you're right... the odds were 8 to 10 exactly." she said. "stop showing off." she said giving me a nudge on the arm. it stung a bit because i was still sore. "so now that topics over with what now."

"i don't really know.. i'm set for now unless there's something you want to know or something else. beats me." i said.

"i'm not really sure... oh i know." she said. she levitated a book over to me and placed it on my lap. it was my bible. "explain this to me." i smiled and opened to one of the old testament stories.

"genesis 1:1 to 2:3," i read. it was the very beginning of the bible and the world. "in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth. the earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the land and water. then god said let there be light, and there was light... the sun, the very burning passion of god that shone its light over the land. he saw the light was good." i read.

"see i don't get what this is supposed to be. the creation of earth i can tell but just where it goes from here is ridiculous." twilight said. i shushed her. i read her the entire book of genesis. she seemed partially interested. but she didn't get it. "i still don't get it."

"god didn't really make the world in seven days and there was no adam and eve. even god knows this to be true. but we tell this story to show that god's hand was there when the earth was formed and when humans evolved and were formed. it was god who designed everything." i said.

"i still don't get it." she said.

"think about it twilight... about everything." i said "we walk and talk and have feelings but what controls those. small microscopic nerve endings and cells. connections in the body. and the matter around us. the patterns in nature. regulatory systems in the body. cell division and atoms... do you think that this stuff just happened." i said. i could tell she was perking up.

"well we were taught that the theory of evolution." i cut her off there.

"yeah, yeah evolution happened, but what made it happen. what caused those cells to mutate. that doesn't just happen without reason. god is the one who changed the cells and pushed animals and nature to evolve and adapt. he made them become something so complicated. from the size of a cell we could look across an entire universe without even traveling a foot." i said.

"what you say makes sense but i just don't believe it is like that. we have science to prove that these things happen for a reason." said twilight.

"yeah... gods reason. science is basically the study of life. science doesn't make these things happen. they would still happen if we didn't have science. twilight i have spoken to god. he has blessed me... do you really want to argue about this right now." i said.

"alright fine lets not argue about it." she said. "you're giving me a headache. you prove a strong point but i'm not easily willing the god of you're world has much of an influence here." she said. "lets drop the subject."

"alright twilight." i said. "sorry i got carried away there. i don't really know what came over me. it's like one of those things you know is right and refuse to believe is fake."

"yeah i know the feeling." she said. "and science has always needed to go deeper and deeper. and who knows what we'll find one day... you may be right."

about half an hour passed by and there was a continuous awkward silence between us. i tried not to make eye contact but looked at her a few times when she wasn't looking. i honestly couldn't think of anything to do. i don't spend any real personal time with twilight.

i sat there and twiddled my hooves and looked around. i'm pretty sure that i knew exactly what everything was in twilight's house by now and where it was. i was thinking about something to say that could break the tension. i took another drink from the jug of water which is now half empty. i could slowly feel my strength returning to me. suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"oh thank god." i said.

"i'll get it." said twilight quickly getting up and walking to the door. i couldn't see the door because it was behind me and i didn't want to turn my head because i've got a bad not in my neck. "thank you sir." she said and then closed the door she walked over with a note.

"who was at the door." i asked

"it was a guard." she said. "he was giving me a letter because spike is out helping rarity dig for gems."

"who's the letter from celestia." i asked completely sure that it was celestia.

"yeah." she said. she levitated the note up to her face and started reading. twilight is the fastest reader i know and she spent a few minutes reading the scroll. it couldn't possibly be that long. after a few more minutes she put the note down and looked at it confused.

"what crazy this does she want now." i asked. i'm certain that i'm going to have to meet the princess and she's going to ask me about my latest adventure and all that crap. when that's done i'm going to be taught something amazing or whatever then she's going to tell me to help her... it gets boring after a while.

"the princess want's to see you immediately." said twilight. item one: meet the princess... check. "and she wants you to bring the oceans heart." item two... relic involving most recent adventure... check.

"you did an awful lot of reading to just tell me that." i said.

"well there is a bunch of stuff that she only wants me to read... then she told me she sent word to you're family and friends... she also said only you can see her. anypony else will be forbidden to enter the castle." said twilight. "she sounds serious about this."

"good that just means it's something big." i said with a smile.

"is this like a game to you." she asked. she wasn't being serious or mad. she had a smile on her face, but i knew she wanted me to be serious.

"c'mon twilight... how many times does a normal pony see the princess. then i see her at least three times every month... and she always asks me about my recent adventure then congratulates me. but when she is in a serious mood that always means she want's me to do something." i said.

"well you know she only thinks about the best of things." said twilight.

"yeah i know... but still, this time sounds like it might be something big." i said. "you know i still have to recover... maybe... do you think you could get dash for me so i can see her before i go."

"well uh you see... the letter came with this." she said holding up a dark red bottle. "it's some kind of recovery serum i think. she wants to see you immediately. " my eyes flared open a bit with a bit of shock. this must be a pretty big thing if she needs me to leave like right now.

"does the note really say she want's to see me immediately?" i asked

"well no... it says she want's to see you before dark" she said skimming back over the note. "but i figured this to be some kind of recovery potion...or something...the note doesn't actually mention the potion. here take a look."she said handing the bottle over to me. i grabbed it and popped the cork. it was completely full of... well whatever it was full of, i still don't know. i shook the bottle a bit and it started fizzing. that scared me a bit because potions shouldn't fizz like that. i brought my nose over it and sniffed it.

"does it smell bad." she asked.

"uhm...no." i gave it another smell. "it smells like... cherry? i don't think it's a potion." i took a small sip. "it's cherry cola."

"cherry cola." she asked.

"yeah but..."i said. "it kinda scares me."i said.

"because it looks sketchy or because the princess gave it to you." said twilight smiling. it wasn't funny i was actually having feelings about whether or not i should trust this drink.

"both..." i said. "i think she did something to it."

"don't be so assuming."

"you disagree." i said.

"well you might as well drink it... you already took a sip and it couldn't be anything horrible. it's from celestia after all." said twilight. "besides, it sounds like an adventure."

"woohoo. i said calmly holding up the glass bottle." i smiled at her and she smiled back. i put the bottle to my lips and chugged the cherry soda down. it hit my stomach and i let out a belch. "i'm not sure what her game is but that hit the spot."

"so what are you going to do now." asked twilight. "just wait here for a while."

"yeah." i said with a yawn. "i'm getting tired, think i might take a nap."

"are you sure... you were perfectly awake a second ago." said twilight. i felt my eyes growing heavy and they started to close. "besides you're physically exhausted not mentally."

"i don't know..." i said.

"i...i didn't ask you a question." said twilight. "are you feeling alright." i could feel my eyes weigh down now. i closed them a few times but tried to keep them open. "c'mon crimson... stay with me." said twilight clapping her hooves in front of me.

"what...no i...i'm so t-tired...just let me sleep." i said. i was closing my eyes but twilight was doing everything she could to keep me up.

"no crimson. c'mon stay up. stay with me, please." she said shaking me. i got a small boost of energy and got my eyes fully open but only for a second.

"yeah...i'll... i...i can't twilight." i said. she grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up from the chair.

"dammit crimson, stay with me," she said. "dammit celestia what did you do to that soda." she said quietly to herself but it was loud enough for me to hear. my legs gave in and i fell to the floor. twilight stood over me and nudged me.

"twi...im...i-i can't." i said. my eyes were almost closed there was a few bangs at the door and there was a crash. twilight looked over.

"what the hell are you doing." she yelled. a few hooves came into view but that's all i could see. twilight's hooves and the hooves of two other ponies. both were dark blue and furry. "get out of my house." she said. she backed up and they followed her out of my vision. "no wait stop...no." i all i heard before there was a loud smack and then silence.

"twi-twilight...don't you... don't touch her." i said shifting around a bit. i had a sudden burst of energy i which i used to pull myself along the floor. i made it about three inches before that was gone. i could here the mumbling of voices and i grew more and more tired.

the two hooves came back into vission right in front of me. they were whispering right in each others ear, but i still couldn't hear. one left and the other grabbed me and tried to pick me up. he lifted me a bit and then dropped me. soon my tiredness was overwhelming and i closed my eyes and fell limp.

soon enough everything wen't dark and i was out like a light.

-Authors Note II: the next chapter is going to be delayed for a numerous amount of reasons... on of which being i just broke my friggin' arm... that hurt like a bitch. i'm actually only typing with one hand right now and it's not as bad as i thought but still... broken limbs. the chapter isn't going to be completely delayed while i'm healing i'm just going to be typing it at half the speed. so it may take some time also with school work and i'm doing yard renovations before the winter. need to get that shit done before the ground freezes and i cant dig it up. i hope you all get this note and have a great time. End of Note-


	56. Chapter 56: Nightmare

i flickered to life and instantly picked my head off the ground. i had my eyes open for sure but it was still dark. the floor below me was cold and hard. the air around me was the same but to a lesser extent. it was silent except for the quiet dripping of water in the back.

"twilight." i said calling out quietly. i found that all my strength was back and i was well rested. "twilight are you here." i said again. i got up slowly. i walked forward inch by inch until something pull on my neck. i put my hooves around my neck and felt something cold and hard around it.

from what i could tell there was a metal ring around my neck like a leash. i soon confirmed that as i thought there was a chain attached to that ring. i was chained to a wall probably. i don't know where i am. celestia couldn't possibly have done this could she. from what i could tell i might be in some kind of dungeon.

out of the corner there was a spark and a torch caught fire and lit up the room. it was burning a blue fire and there was nopony around to light it. i looked around and everything i thought was true. i was in a large stone room with no windows and a very heavy looking iron door. i was infact chained to a wall but the chain was blue. it wasn't glowing, the material itself was bluish looking. it was a blue grey color.

i could already tell by the way i felt that it was blocking my use of magic. the room was completely void of objects to create shadows and even then the blue light mysteriously brightened up the whole place. i wasn't even casting a shadow. yet it seemed dark. too dark to make any sort of light attacks. even then i'm still chained to the wall.

"is anypony here." i yelled. the room was also blocking out sound. i could tell by the way my voice stopped when it hit the stone walls instead of bouncing off of them so i could hear my voice well. the air in the room was cold and moist. i looked back at my wings which have frosted over. i couldn't fly like that, i would only make it two feet off the ground.

this room was built just for me. everything that i could do was completely useless while i'm here. somepony had been planning this, and watching me. this might be why celestia wanted me to leave. i cleared my thoughts and started pacing around the room. i sat against the wall and thought of ways to get out of here. this was like one of twilight's metaphorical questions, except this was extreme.

before i could think any further there were a few clanging noises at the door and it swung open. i looked up to see two ponies in dark blue and black armour walk in. except they didn't look like ponies. they looked like... bats? they had bat wings, fangs and weird looking ears. and one of them had an eye patch.

they walked forward and then to opposite sides of the door. a tall blue and dark pony walked in and made herself visible. it was princess luna. she had wavy hair like the night sky and she had a... sort of discerning feel about her.

"where am i...wheres twilight... i swear if you hurt my friends or family i will destroy you and anypony who helped you." i said running at her but getting pulled back and gagged by the chain. i fell to the hard stone floor with a thud. i got right back up though. i tried to get her like some kind of dog tied to a tree.

"calm yourself crimson blast." she said completely mellow. "it is not my intention to hurt anypony. i simply wished to talk to you." she said. that made me a bit mad due to the circumstances.

"so you poisoned me and put me in a cell." i said yelling at her.

"i'm not going to make it sound better than it is because i know you can accept it..."she said. "yes i did. i knew that you may not willingly go with me nor would you react well to waking up in a different place... the reason i did what i have done is because my sister does not wish us to meet formally or by ourselves." she said.

"why... why would celestia care."

"because i have something to ask of you." she said. "and celestia was keeping me from you since you had become capable of completing this quest."

"why do you think i would help you." i yelled.

"i don't expect you to... all of this is merely safety. i truly wish no harm to anypony. if you do not wish to help me then i will let you go and bring you home... but celestia was worried that if you help me... that terrible things would happen." she said. i could see the honesty in her eyes. she put her head down and looked at the ground in disappointment

"well..." i said calming down. "what do you need me to do." she picked her head up.

"are you willing to help me." she asked.

"i will think about it." i said. "but it would help if we could discuss this somewhere else..."

"yes of course... guards release him." she said. the bat pony with the eye patch walked over with a key and unhooked the collar around my neck. "come with me... we can talk in private." she said. she walked out of the doorway and the bat guards followed after her. i walked behind her. eventually the bat guards left and it was us. but i noticed there were other bat guards around.

"so princess luna... if celestia doesn't want you to talk to me why doesn't she come here herself and get me." i asked.

"because she has no power here... this is my kingdom." she said. "though we rule equestria together we share different capitals."

"well where is here." i asked. we made our way out of the dark and cold dungeons into a decorative hall. it was made of stone and marble. there was carpeting and drapes with a moon like symbol on them. it looked nice. sort of medieval and rustic but nice.

"look for yourself." she said using her magic to open up the drapes of a window. i looked out and stared in wonder of what was before me. we were on a huge floating rock overlooking a giant kingdom... on the MOON. we were on the fucking moon, i could see earth in the sky which was black but there was light here. it was the moons light reflecting from the sun. it was beautiful.

i could see the population was made up of these bat ponies. they looked like normal ponies for the most part but they had bat wings, ears, and fangs. it was interesting. the moon must be colonized with them. but how the hell did she build all of this.

"this... this is amazing." i said.

"you're the first pony to ever step foot here or see this place." she said staring out the window. "you're the first ever to know it's true beauty. i'm just fortunate enough that i found a population of bat ponies... when i was taken over by my hate and evil i ruled over them with an iron hoof. but now that i've changed i've begun to fix what evil i've done." she said.

"you're real lucky you know..."i said.

"how is that." she asked looking at me.

"my world has a moon too. humans have always dreamed of going there and we have done it too. but our moon isn't like yours. it doesn't have air to breathe, there are no bat ponies... there's nothing but rocks. humans had to travel there in special suits just to stay alive... it's nothing compared to this." i said.

"i never believed in luck... my actions put me here and i deserved it. in the end however everything returned to normal... and now am being good to this world and it's ponies... both worlds... but let's not get distracted too quickly follow me so we may speak in private." she said turning her head and walking down the hall.

i looked at her then back over the window. i looked over the town and the moon one last time and looked back. i started walking and eventually caught up behind her. she kept walking down the hallway and we eventually got to a big pair of doors. she used her magic to swing them open. she walked in and i followed her. i got inside the room and the doors shut behind us.

from what i could tell this was her bedroom. it wasn't fancy and decorative like celestia's but it was more... comfortable. like a teenagers room the bed was a mess there were clothes on the ground and some dishes on the wardrobe.

"it's about time we can be alone." she said. her tone was more lax and laid back. "sorry about having to be so formal before. but it's all part of earning the bat ponies trust back..." she said. "it's a bit of a process but it's not too bad."

"i didn't know you were this relaxed and...well, normal." i said.

"on the night of nightmare night i wen't to ponyville to make the holiday more of a festive one... i had to use the royal canterlot voice and use the royal 'we'" she said. twilight had already explained this to me. "i honestly did not know they had stopped using it since i've been here for a thousand years."

"yeah twilight told me about this... she said that she helped you blend in and become more normal." i said.

"yes but i've talked the way i'm talking to you now since was a filly. i had to fool twilight and ponyville into making them believe i didn't know how to communicate properly. i did that because i had already scared them and i didn't want to lure them away... plus it was honest fun." she said walking over and using her magic to take of her clothing and tiara. she set them down on her bed and took a seat over by the window. i walked over.

"this is a bit surprising to me... i never thought you would be like this." i said.

"hopefully one day i can talk to all the ponies like this." she said.

"celestia is nothing like this... she can be pretty uptight but i think i'm wearing her down." i said.

"yeah." said luna chuckling a bit. "she like to keep herself looking proper... oh but she was the best big sister when we were just little fillies..." she looked out the window and at earth. "i just don't know how this could have happened."

"so what is it that you want." i asked.

"well when you first gained the powers of a demon i was questioning whether or not you could help me..." she said. she used her horn to levitate the oceans heart from her bed. "but when i learned you had gotten hold of this i knew you could help me."

"you want me to use the powers of the ocean." i asked strangely.

"no i believe you can also be able to attain the burning shadow... it is the elemental gem of darkness." she said. "i want to use it to restore peace to the night and to the moon..."

"what's wrong with the night and moon." i asked

"before i was imprisoned the moon used to shine bright like a star and the night's over equestria were the most beautiful times. though ponies used to sleep through them there were some that really enjoyed them. that's why i got angry, because the ponies were sleeping through the beautiful night."

"so why doesn't celestia want me to help you." i asked.

"well my sister believes that if i did get a hold of the burning shadow that it would spark the evil in me and i would turn back into nightmare moon and with the power of the shadow i would become unstoppable..." she said. "i thought about it and she is right...it might but i'm not sure, so i would rather have you use it's power to save the moon... i know you can handle it."

"alright i will have to think about it..." i said. i looked around the room some more. i looked back over to luna

"i myself cannot offer you a reward... but i know as a fact that the elemental gem of light... the blinding shard is also there as well" she said. that caught my interest " it has to be there. the two gems are forced to be with each other... one can't exist without the other... it is yours if you get there."

"where are these gems." i asked.

"well over the years i've tracked them down... i've tried to get them myself but i cannot... only a chosen few may reach them, and i believe you are one of those..." she said. "i believe the gems are in blackmarsh."

"where is blackmarsh." i asked.

"it's outside of equestria to the east... it's a very long journey and i can't bring you there from here... celestia would grow suspicious... not that she already is... but she would not let me help you, so i cannot."

"so i have to make the whole journey from ponyville by myself." i said.

"yes... i'm sorry for that... but you can take any of you're friends with you and you may leave when you wish... if you wish to leave that is." she said. i thought about it for a second. well not really. i knew she was in trouble and i could see the good in her...so i instinctively said yes.

"alright princess... i'll get it for you... but i need time to gather supplies and an adventuring party..." i said. she picked her head up and smiled at me. she seemed surprised.

"you actually will do it." she asked. i sighed and smiled.

"of course." i said. she smiled even more.

"thank you crimson blast, you have my gratitude... now we should get you back down to earth." she said. "close you're eyes." she said, i did as she instructed and i closed my eyes. i felt a warmth around me and i could hear the sound of sparks and magic. the ground under me vanished and was soon replaced. i looked down and opened my eyes.

i was in the park. it was almost night time. i looked up at the sky and stared at the moon. i smiled and stood up. the sun had just gone down over the horizon. i could tell because of the small glow in the distance. i walked out of the park and into the streets of ponyville. the place was completely empty. i guess everypony retired early. i walked through the streets and eventually got to twilight's house. i walked up and tried the door...it was locked.

"twilight...twi you in there...it's me." i said yelling softly to get her attention without waking the neighborhood...no response. "c'mon twilight open up." i said again knocking on the door. there was still no response... i waited a few minutes and there was a loud crash."TWILIGHT." i said.

i kicked the door in and the lock broke off and the door swung open and hit the wall. i ran in and looked around. it was a mess but there weren't signs of a struggle. everything was thrown around like somepony was in a hurry to leave. there was another loud bang from upstairs. i quickly trotted over to the stairs and started walking up.

"twilight is that you." i asked. i got to the top and there was a slightly open door. i heard a crash come from the same room. i quietly walked over and slowly pushed the door open. "twilight... is that you." i said. there was no response. there was an open window. suddenly something flew by my face and i freaked a bit and stumbled back.

i had a mini heart attack and looked around the room. whatever was flying by may face was gone. i thought so but then a black figure flew from one side of the room to the other. it kept flying around the room until it flew to the window and made it's perch on the windowsill. i walked over and it was just an owl... this must be owl-o, licious or whatever twilight calls him

"oh it's just you owlowiscious." i said. "i'm crimson a friend of twilight's."

"who." he asked.

"crimson." i said.

"who."

"uh...twilights friend."

"who."

"twilight... the mare that lives here."

"who." i was about to say something else when i realised the situation i just put myself in talking to this owl. i almost burst out laughing but i just smiled and laughed quietly at the irony. i walked over and brushed the feathers of his wings.

"never mind." i said. "do you know where twilight is." he just shook his head. apparently he can understand me. "bummer... c'mon owlowiscious let's go find her."

"who who." he said flying over and perching on my back. i out of that room and checked the others. then i checked the rest of the house. she wasn't home. maybe she went to my house or a friends house. that must be it. she was late for a party or something and in a hurry she made a mess.

i walked downstairs and outside. it was full night now. i walked around the town and eventually got to sugarcube corner. the place was dead silent. i walked over and pushed open the doors which should be locked. i looked around. it wasn't messy like twilight's but it's like everypony just left in a hurry.

there were still trays of food on the tables and counters. the cash register was open but all the money was there. the tables were set and there was a smoke coming from the kitchen. i walked in and saw black smoke puffing up from the stove top. there was a pot of food that was burnt horribly and the range was still on. i walked over and turned it off.

i walked out of the kitchen and over to the stairs. i walked up and checked every room. nopony was home. not pinkie or the cakes. this was getting a bit weird. i walked out of the store and back out into ponyville. maybe they're at my house. i walked down the road and halfway out of the market district there was a cold breeze that i could feel all the way to my bones. owlowiscious shivered and flew of my back and into the night. i held out a hoof to stop him but he was gone.

i shivered but pressed on. the wind picked up and i could feel my hooves and nose getting numb. i got to the path to my house and it was like i was at the north pole. suddenly there was a crack and a tree fell from the surrounding woods. i jumped out of the way and it fell with a crash behind me. i looked up to the dark sky which was now being covered in thick dark clouds.

there was a crashing and flash of thunder and lightning. i kept walking and it started raining. but i kept walking. i continued to walk for what felt like 10 minutes and the rain picked up into a hard storm. i kept walking until i came to a tree in the path. wait a second. i looked behind me and i could see the streets of ponyville. this was the same tree from before. this can't be possible. i quickly vaulted over the tree and started running.

the rain picked up into some kind of rainy hale mix. it stung a bit when it hit my face. i kept running and eventually came to the same tree. i vaulted over it again. and again... and one more time. it just kept coming and i kept resetting down the path. i closed my eyes and grit my teeth. the hail was heavy and hard. it turned into some kind of razor hale. it cut through my skin and fur.

"No no no no no nooo." i said running like mad. "this can't be happening it just can't..." i was going to continue but i ran right into something solid and broke my snout. i yelled in pain and fell down. the razor hale cutting into my face now. i looked at what i just hit and it was my door. the lights in the house were on... thank god. i quickly opened the door and ran in. i shut the door and let the warmth of the house heat my body.

i looked at my body and it was covered in cuts and little stab marks. nothing really serious. they just stung a bit. except for my snout which was broken burning and bleeding. the three B's of a broken limb. i could hear a few noises in the living room. i walked past the hall into the living room. i saw that it was fixed. there was no more hole. and the fireplace was on and burning a few logs.

i expected all of ponyville to be in my house but nopony was here it was just me and... rainbow dash? i thought as a saw a blanketed figure sitting in front of the fireplace quietly giggling. i listened closely and i made the voice to be dashes. i was happy to see her.

"dash... is that you." i said. i calmly walked over and sat down next to her she stopped and her expression changed. i saw she was holding a blanket. i think dawn was in it, but she was completely covered in the blanket. i smiled and pulled the blanket from over dashes head. she just stared down at the baby with a discerning frown on her face. "are you alright."

"yes..." she said. it was a few seconds before she spoke again. "but the baby has a bit of a headache." she said stroking the blanket with her hoof. i smiled and leaned against her.

"here let me see her." i said. she smiled and i grabbed the blanket from the baby. and pulled it off from over her face. "OH GOD NOOOO." i said rocketing backwards and hitting the couch out of pure horror. i looked back over, the baby's head had a huge gash down the middle of it. like somepony took and ae and brought it down on her head. i started to tear up."nooo...oh, oh god why...oh no...god." i started sputtering out randomly in pure shock and horror.

"shh." said dash. "you'll wake the baby" she said rocking the corpse of baby dawn. i rushed over and shoved her out of the way and grabbed dawn. i held her in my hand. i looked at the wound and it was deep. it was still bleeding and you could see the brain and grey matter. i started crying over it when i heard a sound. i picked my head up and listened. the baby was still moving and making sounds.

"oh god... oh god dawn, baby..." i said holding her.

"aww the baby's cold...i can help." said dash from behind me. she came up and grabbed the baby. i tried to stop her but i wasn't fast enough. she threw the baby right into the roaring fire of the fireplace.

"nooooo." i yelled. the baby hit the flames and let out the most horrifying blood curdling scream. i've been through war and suffering. i've seen people tortured in ways i never thought possible and i've heard a symphony of screams. but that scream...that one scream was going to ring through my head for all time and never stop.

"there nice and toasty warm." dash said with a strange look on her face. i was completely still. no other emotions other than the feeling of utter... well destruction really, the only way i can describe it.

"you..." i said. my hate was spiking through the roof. even though she was my wife... this... this was unreal. "you BITCH." i said pouncing on her and grabbing her neck. i held her neck so tight i swear her neck bone was cracking under my grasp. but she just laughed maniacally.

she closed her eyes and when they opened her eyes were gone... just empty husks leaking blood and darkness. a darkness that flowed out of her eyes and covered the ground. it pooled up and covered the whole room. i got off of her as eight spikes shot out of her open eye sockets. four from each. they bent into legs and picked her up.

the she smiled and i could see black liquid leaking from the gaps of her teeth. she laughed and that liquid flowed out of her mouth and piled onto the ground below me. what kind of sick fucking monster was this. a watched as her body slowly ripped apart and black fluid started bubbling and growing around her taking shape until she was no more than a large black spider.

one if it's legs lifted up and it jabbed it towards me. i was in too much shock to move. it pierced through my side and i yelled in pain as it then picked me up and held me in the air. it hissed at me and webbing shot out of its mouth and pinned me to the wall. i tried to brak free but through all my struggling the web didn't even budge it was like it was made from steel or something. there was an evil laughing echoing from the room.

the spider's shadowy from started to fail and turn back into it's black liquid state. it all crashed to the ground and made a huge splash. when the wave of black shadow washed away i saw a tall alicorn like princess luna. i automatically recognized her from the first day i was here in this world. it was nightmare moon.

"how did you get free... i'll kill you." i said struggling and yelling in rage. she just laughed.

"oh i wish i was free... however and also unfortunately this is all a nightmare..." she said with a frown. it wasn't real, any of it.

"oh thank god." i said and took a sigh of relief.

"don't be so thankful." she said. "you see this is my world... you are mine as long as you are here and i can keep you here as long as i want... think of it like hell but with more fear...and less fire." she laughed maniacally.

"you bitch..." i yelled. "i will kill you and watch you're soul burn in hell." i was really mad. i was so mad that i could feel my darker side start to try and wash over me.

"don't be so spiteful." she said. " the only way you're in this situation is you're own fault. you give off an aura dark enough for me to jump to...and i am not a pony or have a soul..." she said with a haughty smile.

"what the fuck are you saying." i said struggling some more.

"well i am simply the physical manifestation of all of princess luna's hate and anger... i am her but i cannot exist without her... nothing more, nothing less" she said keeping the same smile on her face. "the elements cannot truly destroy me for as long as there is hate somewhere in the princess...i live."

"you can't keep me here forever...i'll wake up eventually." i said struggling even more now. the net tightened around me. it started cutting into my skin and i yelled in pain. the thicker parts of the web crushed my bones and organs.

"i'm aware that you will wake up...but i can make it feel as if thousands of years have passed before you ever do." she said with a smile. the web around me tightened instantly and cut me into pieces. i watched as my bodily chunk fell to the ground and everything turned black. within a few seconds i opened my eyes and i was in the web again. she laughed maniacally

"what do you want." i asked.

"you're going to go and get that gem... and you're going to use it free me." she said. "or else i will haunt you're dreams for all of eternity." she said. "every time you sleep you will suffer for a thousand years and only hours will pass by."

"like i'm going to let that happen." i barked. i grit my teeth and pulled on the web again. the edges of the web suddenly caught fire and it started moving towards me. i started sweating and struggling. i could feel the heat growing as the fire slowly crept towards my arms and legs and face. nightmare moon just started laughing deeply to herself.

the fire eventually made contact with my hoof. i started freaking out a bit because it burned. and as it slowly crept it's way over my body i started screaming and yelling in pain. i was trapped and held up helplessly while fire slowly burned away at my body. i almost started to cry from the pain. but then the burning stopped and the fire was gone. my body was clean and untouched.

"now will you consider my offer." she said with a smile. i remained silent, i'm not going to play her game "not yet... maybe i need to be more... persuasive." she smiled again. this wasn't going to be good.

i felt a sting in my left shoulder and looked over. my left arm was slowly twisting backwards. i tried to stop it but i kept twisting. it passed the pivoting point and i started to yell and grunt. then the bone snapped from the joint and slowly started to shatter. i yelled in pain again. by now my arm had done a complete 360 degree turn. she just kept laughing at my pain... sadistic bitch.

the tissue and sinews connecting my arm to my shoulder started stretching and snapping. it was one of the most painful experiences i've ever felt. i kept yelling in pain. the twisting stopped and i yelled out one more time. i breathed heavily and groaned and moaned in pain. i looked over at my arm which was completely twisted off... i couldn't feel it anymore just the pain.

"have you reconsidered yet." she said with an evil smile. i just moaned and grunted in pain. she seemed a bit unsatisfied that i didn't answer her. "maybe we need a bit more persuasion." she said. i could feel my right arm start to twist also. i wasn't going to let her torment me for her own pleasure. good thing i took acting classes in high school.

"no...please stop... please." i said putting on a convincing attitude... it wasn't hard since i was feeling like this on the inside for real. getting you're arm twisted off hurts like a bitch. "just...please stop... i'll do it."

"ahhh... see now was that so hard." she said. she smiled again and a darkness like the night fell over the room. it was like i was staring up at the sky. the pain went away and i was overcome with a cool blowing sensation. before i knew it i was looking at the sky... i was in ponyville park.

the sky was dark and clear. there were stars thrown everywhere and it was night. i looked around and saw some lights on in a few houses at the edge of the park. i slowly got up and made my way out of the park. i was very tired however and i was moving slowly. which was strange considering i was asleep already.

i kept going until i reached the pathway to my house. it had already felt like hours and i don't know why i'm so tired. i also don't know why i'm here as well. my house is probably still destroyed. it was just the only place i could think to go right now. after what felt like roughly another hour of walking i finally made it to my house. i got to the front door and there was a note on it. it was from applejack

"howdy there partner." read the note. "me and a bunch of fellah's..." it actually said fellah's god she even writes with a southern accent. most of it was just some ramble so i skipped over it. "so we fixed up you're house for ya. replaced the door and locked it up tight too. keys are on the table... hope to see you soon... it has been two days and twilight's gone too... i hope she's with ya... so anyway you're welcome... sincerely applejack."

well damn... i guess i can't get in through the back now. i tried the front door and it was locked... dammit. i let out a sigh and curled up against the door. it wasn't too cold outside. it was actually kinda nice. i closed my eyes and slowly went to sleep.

what mess have i gotten myself into now.

****

-Authors Note: hey guys... sorry for the cliffhanger. i hope this has cured whatever ailed you. it did take some time to write because my arm is currently friggin broken and i had to put it in a sling. so that's going to be like that for a while until it gets better. i have been typing with only one hand. i did edit in another authors note at the end of the last chapter a few days ago explaining this but i'm not sure if everyone got it. anyway chapter production has decreased for a while until i recover but this isn't going to stop me... so stay tuned.-End of Note-


	57. Chapter 57: Home Sweet Home

i felt something push against my back. it stopped then pushed again. i tried to get up but i was way too tired. i felt the thing keep pushing on my back. it wasn't long until i realised that the front door was the thing pushing against me.

"mom there's something blocking the door." said a familiar voice. i was barely half awake but i was able to tell from context that it was scootaloo. she probably needs to get out and go to school. i heard hoofsteps and then another voice.

"here let me try." said another familiar voice. it was most likely rainbow dash. i tried murmuring a few words and getting up but for some reason i was just too exhausted. i did manage roll away though just before dash brutally kicked open the door. it swung open and hit the side of the house.

"it's daddy." said scootaloo.

"oh crap... crimson." said dash running over and holding me. "crimson where have you been..." i couldn't say anything i was mustering up the energy to open my eyes. "hold on i'll bring you inside." she said. she used as much of her strength as she could to pick me up but in the end she just ended up dragging me to the living room by my front hooves.

"is daddy going to be alright." asked scootaloo.

"yes yes." said rainbow dash. "daddy's going to be fine... go to school and don't worry daddy will be back when you get home... i promise." scootaloo didn't reply. i can only imagine she hung her head and left. dash dragged me all the way over to the couch and threw me onto the couch. "you stay here... i'll get twilight." said dash." she left and i closed my eyes again.

i'm not sure how long i was out but it must have been a while. i opened my eyes. i was feeling much more well rested now. i slowly got up but i still felt a bit drowsy. i should probably take it easy. it was still bright outside. i looked at the clock and it was 11. the door suddenly swung open and dash walked in.

"oh good you're up... at least i don't need twilight anymore... i couldn't find her anyway. i checked all around town and she's just gone... but i'm more worried about you." she said walking over and sitting down next to me. "where we're you i was so worried... are you alright."

"yeah baby i'm fine... i just went and saw a friend that's all." i said.

"is that just a way of telling me not to worry about it."

"yeah... so you really can't find twilight." i asked

"no nopony has seen her... it's been three days since you left and she must have gone with you or something." three days... that can't be right. she leaned in and hugged me and i fell back on the couch. she closed her eyes and laid on top of me. "i'm just glad you're back." she said.

"i'm glad too."

i closed my eyes and let dash lay on top of me. i could feel her breathing and her heartbeat. it was calming and slowly put me to sleep. she smiled and i did too. she hugged me tighter and her warm breath blew onto my neck. it was relaxing. it soon put me to sleep and i was out again.

at least i'm home.

****-Authors Note: i'm sorry for the incredible shortness of this chapter. it was supposed to be part of the last chapter but the real point of this chapter is to get this message across. because of how close i am to the east coast i'm without power. i have a generator running but i'm shutting it down because they're telling us to evacuate from the coast so i have to go soon. i will probably be without power for a while and I've still got my arm in a sling. this is really scary shit guys... no joking. i hope the rest of you are warm and safe... i got to go... stay shady guys.-End of Note-


	58. Chapter 58: Departure

i woke up sometime later surrounded by a white light. there was nothing around me. everything is white. i got up and looked around at the barren wasteland of nothing around me. i must still be sleeping. i tried to walk forward but found that it was difficult to move. then i heard a voice.

"well well well." it said. it sounded nothing like a voice that i've heard before. it was female. "this is quite the mess you've gotten yourself into now... it's quite an impressive mess too."

"who are you." i asked. "what do you want."

"i've been watching you for some time now alex... or do you prefer crimson blast..." she said laughing. it wasn't much of an evil laugh but more of a sadistic giggle.

"who are you..." i said again "ANSWER ME."

"oh so feisty." she said. "don't worry... i have no intention of hurting you or becoming you're enemy... it's beneath me." she seemed a bit strange and distant. i couldn't tell if i could trust her yet.

"well... then what do you want." i asked. i looked around and she laughed. her voice seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"i just want to make sure you don't fuck everything up like you've done so far." she said.

"what are you talking about... i'm doing great."

"are you really." she said.

"you be quiet." i shouted. "everypony is happy and so am i."

"are they really... is you're wife really happy... is you're daughter... when is the last time you've ever spent time with you're family and friends." she asked

"well..." i was about to say something but she cut me off.

"how often do you visit fluttershy or rarity, or applejack...when is the last time you've held either of you're children."

"i...you're right." i said. i sat down and stared at the ground. "i'm a horrible father and the worst husband and friend ever... i've been so blind." i said. there was a bright light and a woman descended from that light. she was human. she was wearing a flowing white robe and hood. her skin was blush red all over.

"do not feel sad though my child." she said. the tone of her voice was now soft and caring. i looked up to her. like a child looks up to his mother hoping that she will love him. "you are not wholly at fault... this is the doing of powers beyond you're control... at least you're heart beats strong and with pure intentions... though you may not always act on them."

"who are you."i asked as she finally touched down on the ground in front of me. she seemed familiar. then it hit me. "are you... the blessed mother." i asked. she smiled and giggled.

"no child i am not of you're world." she said. that made me put my head down in shame. but i was interested i knowing who this really was. "i am the titan of light and all things holy and pure." she said. "i am one of ten powerful titans that control the balance and safety of this world."

"what do you want." i asked.

"i want to guide you... take this." she said. in her hands shone a bright glowing diamond cross. it floated over to me and i grabbed it. "this is truly one of the most sacred and powerful artifacts that equestria or the world has ever seen." she said. "i've seen you're struggle and if anypony is worthy of it...you are."

"what makes me so fortunate... so lucky to be given all these chances and this power." i asked... that's a question that i've been asking myself for quite some time.

"there are forces at work here that you will not be able to understand until they reveal themselves in time." she said. "stay focused crimson blast... there are great and terrible things ahead of you're path... and it all began at the beginning of you new life." she said. she started to vanish into the white light.

"no wait... i have too many questions... what's going to happen now." i asked before she vanished.

"you're going to do what you do best" she said. "...survive." and just like that she was gone. i sat there and held the white and shining cross in my hand... i was intrigued that it took the form of a cross... that was definitely an interesting feature. the light around me faded and there was nothing but darkness.

i woke up again to see myself lying on the couch with rainbow dash still lying on top of me. i lifted up my hoof to see that i was holding the cross. so it wasn't just some crazy dream... that really happened. good thing that i'm willing to believe anything could happen at this point. if my house were to just spontaneously explode right now i probably wouldn't be as moved as a normal pony or person.

i nudged dash and she slowly opened her eyes. she looked around and then looked back over at me. she smiled and gave me a kiss. i placed the cross down on the table and she looked over at it. she seemed very confused as to what it wa or where it came from.

"where did you get that." she asked still half asleep and staring at the cross. i smiled and gave her a kiss.

"don't worry about it." i asked. "why don't i make us some lunch and we can have a nice quiet evening..." i said. before i could get up i heard crying from another room.

"i'll get that." said dash getting up.

"no i got it..." i said. "i want to see my beautiful baby daughter." i said getting up and walking into dawns room. i walked over to the crib and picked her up. she smiled when she saw me and stopped crying. i held her close and walked her into the living room. i sat down on the couch and held her. i even started singing the tune to one of my favorite lullabies when i was young.

she immediately calmed down and started to drift back off into sleep. i handed her to dash and dash smiled at me. she held dawn and i gave her a little kiss on the forehead so i didn't wake her up. i gave dash a kiss too and walked into the kitchen. i spent the next half hour baking up some lunch. when it was finally done i took the food out of the oven and there was a knock on the door.

"come in." i said in a friendly manner. the door opened and of all the ponies the princess walked into the house. she didn't seem very happy with me. she walked in and closed the door. i could see dash was a bit nervous and she scooted back on the couch a bit. "ah princess... to what do we owe this pleasure."

"we need to talk." she said. "i know you've seen my sister... what did she ask of you." she said walking into the kitchen and confronting me. this isn't like her to just walk right up to me and ask questions. she was even staring me in the eye.

"she asked me to do exactly what you think she did." i said putting the food on a cooling rack. "she asked me to journey out to some swamp and retrieve the elemental gem of shadows and give it to her. i'm still deciding whether or not i want to do it though." i said. her expression changed.

"so you're saying you won't do it."

"i never said i wouldn't... i've had a bit of an enlightenment." i said. "i'm going to think about it first... oh and by the way you wouldn't happen to know were twilight is do you..." i said completely aware that she was probably with the princess the whole time.

"i had her teleported to me for questioning." she said. i knew it. "you do know the consequences of bringing that gem to her." she asked. "don't you."

"well of course..." i said. "if i bring the gem to her nightmare moon could break free and all that stuff." i said rolling my hoof and my eyes.

"and if she does not even the elements of harmony could stop her." said the princess glaring at me in hopes to scare me... it didn't work.

"so then i'll stop her myself." i said.

"your becoming very arrogant and big headed." she said. "this power is affecting you more than you think." she said. that set me off a bit.

"you don't know anything." i said yelling and starting to float up into the air to her level. the house shook and the baby started to cry. "you think this is easy... you think i don't know what's happening... i'm completely aware of the situation and i can handle it... and you'll be damn sure that i will drag nightmare moon down to hell even if that means i have to go too." i said. i started calming down and sunk back to the ground and the house stopped shaking and the baby calmed down.

"crimson." said the princess. i cut her off before she could say anything else.

"if you wouldn't mind princess." i said talking over her. "me and dash are trying to have lunch... and i don't care for you're company right now... so please, leave and tell twilight i said hello." i said. she looked at me. her angered and uneasy expression had faded to a look of worry and trouble. she didn't say anything but her horn glowed and in a flash of light she was gone.

the room was filled with awkward silence and i walked over and grabbed the food. i brought it over to the living room and sat down on the couch. i placed the food on the coffee table and looked at the ground. me and dash both started eating but the room was still filled with awkward silence. dash looked at me in a discerning manner but i couldn't face her right now. but i found the nerve to speak up.

"i'm the worst." i said. dash leaned over and sat right up against me.

"you're not the worst..." she said.

"i am... i'm not here for my family enough and now i've gotten myself into one hell of a mess." i said. "i'll probably end up messing this up and destroying everything... like i always do." dash slapped me across the face as hard as she could. i put my hoof to my cheek and looked at her. she had tears in her eyes. she buried her face in my shoulder and started to cry.

"don't say that." she said. "you're the best ever... i just... how can you think that." i held her and hugged her.

"dash... it's alright... nothings going to go wrong this time... i promise."

"it's just... i fell so distant from you..." she said. "you always seem different every time i see you... it's like you're never the same pony." she said.

"dash i will always be here... i swear to god i will never leave you alone for as long as i live... and when i do leave i would rather crawl my way back to you than stay away forever."

"i know you would..." she said. "it's just that sometimes i worry."

"you don't need to worry anymore... i'll fix this." i said. "though i'm not sure at what cost." i mumbled to myself.

"what was that..." asked dash.

"nothing." i said. she looked at me and i looked back at her. there was a sudden knock at the door and it burst open to reveal a very startled and worried twilight. she took a deep breath but before she could say anything i spoke up. "twilight whatever it is... i probably already know." she stopped dead in her tracks completely speechless. she let out a deep breath and sunk her head down. she walked over.

"it just never ends with you does it." she said walking over. she spotted the glowing diamond cross on the table. "oh c'mon what the hell is that... what have you done now." she started asking tons of questions.

"twilight calm down... don't worry about the cross and if you want to know where i was i was on the moon with princess luna." dash looked over at me with a bit of shock and confusion. "more importantly where we're you... you weren't hurt were you." i asked.

"no i'm fine." she said. dash got up and put the baby back in her room and came back in and sat down. "they didn't knock me unconscious with a club or anything. it was just chloroform."

"so what were you doing at the princesses." asked dash

"she brought me to canterlot for some questioning on what i know... then she told me what you were up to." she said. "i hope you know what you're doing."

"i have a good idea... that is if the princess will even let me go." i said.

"go where... what are you two talking about." asked dash. i was about to speak up and answer her but twilight was faster.

"princess luna wants crimson to go and fetch the burning shadow in blackmarsh." said twilight. "which might i ad is a 2 month long trip even if you use you're wings..." she said. that was a surprising statement. dash seemed a bit surprised too.

"and the princess will probably try and stop me so that adds to the time." i said.

"the princess told me she wouldn't try and stop you... but she won't help you and she is restricting luna from helping you either... you're on you're own." said twilight.

"well i can bring thunder rush." i said.

"yes you can but since he can't fly that would make the journey even longer and more dangerous... he would only slow you down." she said.

"damnit." i said. i looked over at dash and she gave me big sad looking eyes. "if you don't want me to go i won't." i said.

"no... you should do this." said dash... maybe this is what we need." i was surprised to hear her say that... i think twilight was too.

"what do you mean by that." i asked.

"well if you go it might take the excitement away and things will start to calm down here in ponyville... trouble is magnetically attracted to you anyway." said dash with a weak smile.

"you really think so." i asked. i was a bit unnerved by her statement but it made sense.

"she has a point." said twilight. "maybe things will calm down in ponyville."

"alright... i'll leave tomorrow... but today i need to pack." i said. dash smiled and gave me a hug and twilight smiled too.

we spent the rest of the day packing. twilight enchanted my bags with a whole shit ton of things. it made it so food doesn't go stale or rot and i can find anything just by thinking of it. so we packed and packed the bags. she also put a featherweight spell on it.

we packed food. i brewed up some health potions and other things. we put in some towels and blankets for the night. flint and tinder. basic survival gear. i also packed the glowing cross. i filled a vial full of water and held the cross up to it when nopony was looking. i said a small prayer and hoped that it would make the water holy. surprisingly the water glowed bright and i think it worked.

i spent the rest of the day after packing to say goodbye to all of my friends and tell them that i was leaving. they helped out by giving me small things to remember them by. applejack lent me her canteen with her cutie mark on it. fluttershy gave me a whistle. pinkie gave me a... well it was some sort of party thing. so on and so forth.

i packed one half of the bag with survival equipment and essentials. the other half of the bag i filled with magical wares and etcetera. stuff like potions and i even was planning on bringing my new omni weapon with me which was still at twilight's. dash made me take one of the stone wishing tablets just incase. i still have yet to do something with that chest of tablets. and finally a bit of money incase i should find traders. i only took about 500 bits.

i guess i was all ready to go. by the time we finished packing it was late. when i got home from the store after buying a hatchet to cut down tree's i found that all my friends and family were there. they helped me out and twilight gave me a map with a jotted down path. she said it was a bit longer but it was safe. i could fly across equestria without a problem but the weather past the barrier is too harsh to fly through... i just have to make it past the harrowing summits and the desert of burning sands... then i get to blackmarsh.

i spent the rest of the night with my friends and family. we had fun by playing games and telling jokes and stories. it was fun but there were a few sad feelings from everypony. everypony except derek who insisted that he comes with me. it took a while but i finally got him to stop and he broke down a bit which was surprising. we all slept over at my house and just piled in the living room.

that morning i got up and checked my stuff while everypony else woke up. i grabbed my gear. twilight and dash forced me to have breakfast with them and we all walked out of my house and into ponyville together. everypony was there wishing me luck and saying goodbye. i used my powers to create an armour coating of light and a hood and cape. i like the hood and cape... makes me look awesome. i looked at my friends one last time.

"i guess this is it." i said smiling. dash walked over and the rest behind her.

"i guess it is... be safe." she said smiling.

"i will... i promise." i said. the others stepped up and confronted me. applejack stepped up and she had a few tears in her eyes.

"now...*sniff*, ya'll be careful now... don't do nothing stupid to get yerself killed." she said. "promise."

"i promise." i said. she leaned in and gave me a big hug. i hugged her back and let go. she walked back and rarity stepped up. she had a smile on her face but she was feeling like everypony else... sad.

"make sure to stay warm... and don't hurt yourself." she said.

"i promise rarity." i said. we hugged and she stepped back and pinkie stepped forward.

"remember to have fun." she said. she tried her best to be as perky and fun as she usually is but i could tell she was dying inside. there were even a few tears in her eyes. "and when you get back... we'll have the biggest party ever... i promise." she said. she leaned over and gave me a big hug. i smiled.

"alright pinkie... i'm looking forward to it." she let go and fluttershy stepped up.

"now... uhm... be safe and uh... don't go overboard and start killing everything." she said timidly... she was being very strong for somepony like her. but there were still tears in her eyes.

"i promise." i said. she leaned in and gave me a small peck on the cheek. it caught me offguard and she blushed and went back into the crowd. next was derek. he walked over and smiled.

"now i still think i should be with you on this... but, this is you're thing... have fun with it bro." he said. we bro hoofed and he patted me on the shoulder and walked back. twilight came up next and looked at me.

"i know that you can do this... here take this." she said. she levitated a small box over.

"what is it." i asked taking it.

"it's full of paper and quills and ink... the ink is magic so when you finish writing it will be sent to me... promise you'll write to us every chance you get... there's plenty of paper here." she said.

"i promise to write..." i said. "will you write back."

"i will... we all will." she said. i smiled and she did too. she leaned over and i gave her a hug. she went back and dash stepped up.

"i'm proud of you." she said. "if you look at it... you've come a long way and seen things that you might have thought ridiculous." she said.

"yeah." i said chuckling slightly. "i guess i have... who would have thought if i never bought that guitar... none of this would have happened." i said.

"while you're gone remember i will always be thinking about you... "she said. i smiled and she did too. i could feel a few tears trying to break their way through. "never think for a second that i would give up on you... and don't you dare give up on me... promise."

"i promise dash." i said. she leaned in and planted a deep kiss on my lips. i kissed her back and we held the moment for a while. i broke away and she stepped back. i spread my wings and floated into the air. i said one last goodbye and the crowd of ponies waved and cheered me goodbye. i flew off and my adventure had begun.

god only knows what's in store for me now.

****

-Authors Note: WOOOHOOO. just reached 10K views... you guys are freaking awesome. the story is still on it's edge of adventure and this is going to be a two month journey. the next chapter will take place mostly in equestria and end at the barrier... that's not for certain though. and as a bonus i don't have my arm in this ridiculous sling anymore. it's still damaged and broken but the bone has set properly and i can type normally now. as for hurricane sandy i'm at my grandparents house deeper down in massachusetts... near worcester... that's all, stay shady.-End of Note-


	59. Chapter 59: The Long And Winding Road

it was already two days since i left on my journey. i haven't reached any towns or cities yet. i marked out where i would hit on my map. there should be a little town not far from here maybe half an hour away if i keep flying as fast as i am. the town is called maresville. from there i will fly to trottington, then to another small town called coltland, then to manehattan and then to the gryphon village.

after a while the small town came into view. i got rid of my armour of light so nopony would freak. i touched down just outside of the main road and walked the rest of the way. i walked into the town and looked around. it was just a normal average town. a lot like ponyville but the style was different.

most of the ponies didn't know i existed and that wasn't a problem with me. i walked around until i came across a small park. i walked into the park and took a seat under the shade of a tree. i just needed to rest my hooves and wings. i can probably find an inn or something to crash for the night. if the pocket watch rarity gave me is correct it's about 5 in the afternoon. the sun was growing closer to the horizon.

i laid back and my stomach started to growl. i reached into my bag ad pulled out some food. i started eating when i heard my stomach grumble again. wait... that wasn't my stomach. i looked over and saw a ragged pony with a bunch of patchy clothes on just lying under the tree i was sitting at... i didn't even notice him... he looked like a hobo.

"hey." i said giving him a nudge. he woke up and looked around. i nudged him again and he looked at me. "are you alright stranger." i asked.

"no... i'm down on my luck." he said. "ain't got no house no food nowhere to sleep... don't bother you're time with me sonny... i'm just an old no-name." i reached into my bag and pulled out some cider and a slice of apple pie. he had curled back up into a ball.

"it's my job to make sure everypony is happy." i said he looked back up and i held to food out to him. he stared at it and then at me. he seemed confused. "here take it." i said. "you need it more than i do." he reached out and grabbed the food.

"why this is the most kindest thing anypony has ever done for me... what's you're name sonny." he said.

"i'm crimson blast."

"you ain't from around here." he said eating some of the food. "ain't nopony around here as nice as this."

"well obviously something is wrong." i said. i reached into my punch and picked out 30 bits and put them in a bag. "here take this." i said handing him the money.

"oh no i can't do that... it wouldn't be right." he said.

"i would be worse if i let you just sit under this tree and rot." i said pushing the bag towards him. "take this money and get a ride to a town called ponyville... it's just east of here... the ponies there are much more generous and friendly." he looked at the bag and grabbed it. he stared at it and looked at me and smiled.

"i can't thank you enough... i won't waste this money on myself." he said. "i'll go to ponyville... bless you boy." he said. he tipped his beaten hat at me and walked off. i watched him and he called for a carriage. eventually one came and he paid the drier. as it took of he waved to me and i waved back. that felt good to do that.

i returned to my own meal feeling like i've done my part today. after i finished eating i walked out of the park and into the town. i looked around but just ended up wandering in circles for a while. eventually a pony at a stall which i had passed numerous times grabbed my arm.

"you lost son." he said. i looked at him. he seemed like a normal pony all in all. "can i help ya."

"yeah i'm looking for a place to stay the night." i asked. "you wouldn't happen to know of any places."

"well there's an inn right down the street..." he said. "it's the big building on the right... decent prices, good food, and comfortable beds."

"thank you." i said. i gave him a few bits for the directions and headed off that way. it was getting dark and i finally reached it. there was a sign out front that said "The Trotting Tavern". i walked in and looked around. there was a desk with food and drinks behind it. there was music playing and tables set up. there were a few chairs in front of a fireplace and a few rooms to stay in... it was quaint. i walked over to the desk and the mare behind it smiled and said hello.

"hello... welcome to the trotting tavern... how can i help you." she said. she took one look at me and smiled again. "oh you must be a traveler." she said. "we don't get many of those in equestria... where are you heading."

"i'm going to blackmarsh on a quest." i said. she seemed a bit unsettled by my answer.

"yeesh... that's quite the journey... i suppose you're looking for a room tonight." she asked.

"yep." i said.

"alright that'll just be ten bits for one night." she said. i handed her ten bits and she reached behind the desk and popped back up with a key. "yours is the room next to the fireplace."

i smiled and walked away. i wasn't wholly tired yet so i walked over and sat down in a chair near the fire. there were already two other ponies by the fire. one of them looked over to me. he had an eye patch and a rugged beard. he looked back to the other pony and they started chatting. i didn't pay attention to their conversation i was busy looking at the fire until he said.

"hey... what's you're story." he said. i looked over at him confused.

"my what." i asked.

"you know... were you heading to... i think it was blackmarsh i heard." he said.

"yeah... it's a quest given to me by somepony important." i said.

"oh who." the second pony said. "princess celestia." he said and they both laughed.

"no it was princess luna actually." i said. they both stopped laughing. i could tell by their mannerisms and their... well, everything, that they weren't from equestria. i would have to guess that they're here on an adventure or something considering they've got weapons strapped to their backs.

"you think that's funny." he said. "ain't no good adventurers from equestria." he said. "all you ponies here are weak... couldn't survive on you're own." he said laughing again.

"i beg to differ." i said smugly.

"is that a challenge." he said. he stood up and so did the other pony. they thought they were scaring me but i was ready to kick their asses. i stood up too and this guy was at least an inch bigger than me. "well." he said. "did you just challenge me."

"that depends." i said. i looked over him quickly. he was an earth pony and a rather strong one. he had a big weapon though so he was probably slow... you have to be fast in order to beat me. "do you want a challenge... because to challenge me you must be strong." i said. i pulled the omni weapon to my side. i pulled it off and saw the other ponies back away. the big one pushed me and i went flying back into a table. i got up quickly and held up the bow.

"oy lad you forgetting something." said the second pony. they both started laughing.

"you ain't got no arrows." said the first one. "how you gonna shoot without..." before he finished i pulled the bow back and an arrow formed and i released it. it flew through the air and cut across his face leaving just a little scratch on his left cheek. it flew past him and hit the hat of the second pony and pinned it to the wall... there was silence. "...arrows." he said finishing his sentence with a tinge of fear.

"i'll ask again." i said. " do you really want to challenge me."

"oi that ain't fair." said the second pony. "you can't use magic."

"how did you even do that." asked the first one. "you don't even have a horn.. you're no unicorn."

"the weapons enchanted... i don't need ammo for it and it never runs out." i said. "i think it would be best if you two left." i said. they both looked at me with angered looks but i kept the bow raised. the second pony grabbed his hat and they both walked by.

as they walked past me i made sure to keep my distance so they couldn't jump me. they went out the door and i put the bow down. i strung it back over me. the mare behind the counter walked over smiling. i was a bit confused and then the other ponies in the inn started clapping and softly cheering.

"thanks for dealing with those two." she said. "they're adventurers from outside of equestria... we get them sometimes but most of the time they don't bother nopony... but those two have been here for weeks and they drink all my beer and harass other customers." she said. "thanks for getting rid of them."

"no problem... i didn't like them anyway." i said.

"here have a drink on the house." she said handing me a bottle of beer i grabbed it and smiled.

"thank you." i said. the other ponies in the inn raised their glasses and i raised the bottle. i drank up and decided to turn in. i went to my room and blew out the candles. i rested in the bed and drifted to sleep. this was definitely an interesting town.

i woke up the next morning and stretched out my arms and legs. i got up and grabbed my things and headed out. i waved goodbye to the mare behind the counter and walked out of the inn. i got to the streets and from telling were the sun was in the sky i would have to say it was about 10 or 11. i smiled and walked down the street. i heard a voice from behind me. i turned to see the same two ponies from last night... but this time they had friends, there were five of them now.

"hey you." he said. "i don't think we're done yet... now i think it's fair." he said. the three other ponies he had with him had bows and arrows as well. the other ponies in the town sort of crowded around. "i challenge you."

"don't do this." i said calmly. i dropped my stuff on the ground and unstrung my bow. instead of using it i threw it on top of my stuff. "you have no idea what you're getting yourself into." i said.

"archers FIRE." he said. there was no cooperating with this guy. the bowmen pulled back on their bows and three arrows shot right at me. i used three rays of light to catch the arrows before they hit me. everypony was silent. but the there were whispers. i heard my own name a few times within the whispers. i must be more famous than i thought.

i closed my eyes and when i reopened them they were glowing bright. the symbols on my body started glowing and i was covered in holly light. sparks of light shot off my body and i lashed out my wings in a flurry of glowing sparks. i soaked myself in glowing armour and stared down the five ponies. i walked forward and the ground cracked beneath me with every step... like ice. light shone through the cracks.

"i'm going to say this once..." i said. "run now... or suffer the consequences." the second pony was shaking with fear. he turned and ran.

"you coward." said the first one.

"he was smart." i said.

"i've dealt with stranger things before... you're mine." he said pulling out his sword. he charged at me and lashed at me with his sword. it hit me once on the chest plate and the sword shattered. he stepped back holding the broken hilt in his teeth. he looked up at me and ran away. the archers followed him.

i cast the light away and laughed. i brought my stuff over to me and put it back on. i was surrounded by ponies. i was here for only a day and i've already made a big impression on this town. but i don't have time. i answered the questions of the ponies as best as i could before taking off to my next destination.

the next town was trottington which was actually a decent city by what i've been told. i flapped my wings and flew onward. it was only a few minutes until the small town was out of view. i checked the map and the compass and redirected myself. after a few hours of flying it was getting dark. i dove down into the forest beneath me and set up my tent. i stayed the night camped out.

i woke up the next morning and ate breakfast. i was starving since i hadn't eaten at all yesterday. i had a big breakfast and packed up my stuff. i walked around a bit hoping to find a lake or stream. and thankfully i did. i found a nice little stream that was deep enough to bathe in.

i walked into the stream and started washing up. i cleaned myself and got out of the water. i dried off and flew back into the air. i used the map and compass again to find m route and when i did i started flying. so far things are going quite well. there hasn't been much fighting other than the incident in maresville. this isn't even the hard part of the quest. i still have to actually get there.

after about three days of flying i eventually made it to trottington. it was a small city. not big and bustling but it was big. i spent the night and left the next day. nothing much happened that's worth telling. the rest of the journey was the same. except after trottington was the big stretch. it took me ten days to get from trottington to the small town of coltland. i spent two night's there to rest up. then i headed out and it took about six days to go from coltland to manehattan. i stayed only one night at manehattan. after that it was on to the gryphon village. twilight told me to be careful there because the gryphons are a bit aggressive.

i've made sure to write to twilight and the others whenever i got the chance. i wrote almost every night with the occasions that i'm too tired or it's too dark to see what i'm writing. i usually get replies from all of them saying they miss me. they even sign it too. good to know that i'm missed.

after four days of flying i finally got to the gryphon village. i walked over and there was a kind of giant wooden wall there were gates but they were wide open. they had guards with spears but they didn't bother me when i went to walk in. i looked around and there were both ponies and gryphons. there were strangely more ponies than gryphons.

i walked around a bit and looked around. it wasn't much. it looked a lot like the lower circle of indigo city. wood houses with straw roofs and dirt roads. it felt homely. i walked around until i found a nice tavern. i walked in and ordered a room. i got the key and placed my stuff in my room. it was still early so i might as well pass the time with a few drinks.

i closed the room door and walked over to the bar. i took a seat next to a gryphon and ordered a drink. my drink came over and i took a chug. the gryphon next to me spoke up.

"hey... you look familiar." she said. she sounded like some kind of teenage troublemaker. "do i know you." she asked.

"probably not... i don't know any gryphons." i said in reply.

"where you from." she asked taking a chug of her beer. i did the same.

"ponyville." i said.

"heh..." she said shrugging. "no shit... i have a friend in ponyville... well... former friend." she said hanging her head down.

"sorry to hear that." i said. "you gotta name."

"yeah... it's gilda." she said.

"well gilda my names crimson blast." i said.

"well blast... you seem like a pretty cool dude." she said. "what are you doing so far from ponyville."

"i'm on a quest... or an adventure... call it whatever but i need to get to blackmarsh." i said.

"hat takes guts dude." she said. "thats a two month journey from ponyville."

"now is that two months accounting heading back." i asked. "because i've already been travelling for almost a month."

"nope..." she said. "two months just to get there... two months to get back... four in all." she said taking another sip of her bear. that was a bit unnerving. i took a chug of my bear and finished it off.

"well damn." i said.

"hey you got a map." she said.

"yeah right here." i said handing her the map.

"here i can help you get through this alive." she said. "instead of going through the burning desert like a retard you can take a right go through the weeping forest." she said. she handed me the map which had a path drawn on it now.

"thanks." i said.

"you'll still have to go through the desert but it will only take you two days instead of a week." she said.

"thank you." i said. "how do you know this." i asked.

"i used to fly all around the place when i got out of flight school." she said.

"oh well alright... thank you." i said.

"don't mention it." she said. she yawned and preened her feathers. "you need a place to stay." she asked.

"nah... i'm good, already spent money to stay here." i said.

"alright... see ya." she said and she left the bar. i just waved... i doubt i'll ever see her again. i ordered another beer and downed it in about 10 minutes. it was still early not even noon yet. i was a bit tipsy but i still had my thoughts about me. i looked over to the manager.

"hey." i said getting his attention. "what's there to do around here."

"well." he said. "for ponies like us there ain't much... this is mostly just a vacation spot and a place of business... if you're looking for something to do though i guess you could do some prize racing." his expression changed. "oh... i shouldn't have said that."

"what's prize racing." i asked. he leaned in real close and looked me in the eye. it was a bit awkward.

"never mind you heard that from me." he said whispering and looking around. he hinted over to the room behind his booth. "follow me." he said whispering again. i walked past the booth and followed him into the room. it was a bedroom. probably his room. he shut the door and looked back at me.

"so what's prize racing." i asked again.

"you ain't a snitch are ya boy." he said.

"why is prize racing illegal." i asked.

"i'd call it forbidden instead." he said. "ya see these griffons got this underground track... seen it myself, the thing is huge. they have races there and you can't compete unless you got wings... so you're game." he said.

"and i assume the winner gets some sort of prize."

"oh you sure do. i singular race will get you a cash reward... but if you compete in the crucible... you get to pick from the chest." he said with a strange smile on his face.

"what's the crucible." i asked. he smiled again

"the ultimate race... it doesn't end until one pony or gryphon crosses unchallenged... that means the others are either dead or can't fly... like a battle." he said. i was a bit shocked at what i was hearing. how could celestia let something like this exist.

"that sounds a bit shady." i said.

"ay... but the prize is worth it." he said.

"right the chest... what's so special about that." i asked.

"the chest will give you what you've always wanted... you're true hearts desire... simply reach in and grab it." he said. that sounded interesting... but i'm not like that... maybe i'll check this out and just do a few singular races... but fuck that crucible shit.

"where is this... race track." i asked. he ran to the other side of the room and pulled out a piece of paper he wrote some stuff down on it and handed it to me. i looked at it but before i had time to read it he pushed me out of the room and then out of the bar. it was a bit excessive but i guess there's more to this than i thought.

i looked at the card and there wasn't even an address it just said "the well of the four corners...". how the fuck am i supposed to know what that means. i guess i should looked around until this makes sense. so that's what i did. i walked around the village which was actually larger than i thought.

i eventually got hungry and stopped at a little park i sat down and grabbed some food out of my bag and ate. i had a few apples and some water. i looked up and saw a well. out of curiosity i got up and walked towards it. i looked at it and it was just a boring well. it was surrounded on three sides by alleyway and then the road leading to it. i walked up and it had a sign on it.

" ye ol' wishing well." said the sign. it was just a well. i sighed and took out a bit. i slumped over the well and threw the bit down. i waited at i heard the plash of water a few seconds after. i was soon greeted by a gryphon in black baggy clothing. i looked at him and he looked back at me.

"not many gryphons use this well anymore." he said. "and ponies don't especially... you must be down on you're luck."

"yeah." i said still feeling suspicious. "i guess i am."

"you looking for a way out." he asked.

"do you know of any." i said leading him on. he must be some kind of bouncer for the club or races or whatever... i guess i found it.

"follow me." he said. he walked past me and into a different alleyway. i followed him. the alleyway was dark but my eyes adjusted quickly and i saw two more gryphons with the same clothes standing near a brick wall. we walked up and the first gryphon looked at the other two.

"been awhile since we got a new pony to join." said one of them.

"he's down on his luck." said the first gryphon.

"how down are you." the other gryphon at the wall asked.

"down enough to sniff this place out... i know what this is... and if you need me to pay or something don't worry... i can cover it." i said staring him in the eye. he smiled.

"he has wings but he's pretty down to earth..." he said to the others. he looked back at me. "can you fly fast." he asked.

"sure." i asked.

"nah... if you want in you have to brag." said the other gryphon.

"alright... i flew at the young flyers competition a while ago and i broke the sound barrier creating a sonic boom..." i said.

"holy shit." said one of them. "it's that guy... the one who flew with rainbow dash... they created the sonic rainboom. and this guy did the shadow boom." he said.

"so you're that guy." he said. "prove it... let's see the shadows."

"so word gets around fast." i said. "alright. i concentrated and pulled the darkness of the alleyway towards me. i glowed dark black and my eyes lit up. the scars on my body shone dark black except for the cross on my back which is always glowing bright white. i covered myself in black armour and flexed out my wings. the spikes on my armour poked the gryphon bouncer next to me and he hoped over. i smiled and showed my fangs. i let a few small tentacles wave around me for effect and i was dripping with shadows. they all smiled.

"well i'll be damned... we got ourselves a new member boys." said the gryphon next to me. "rhet... and sam." he said to the two in front of us. they seem to have human like names. "go tell aster that we have a special guest for him."

"yes sir ketro" they said. they turned around and one of them taped the bricks on the wall in a certain order. there was a small shake and the brick wall moved into the sides of the alleyway. there was a portal behind them. they walked through and the other gryphon looked at me.

"so i guess you're name is ketro." i said.

"yes it is ." he said.

"what's with the formalities." i asked.

"well despite the nature of this operation it is a business... before you come with me let me set some ground rules." he said.

"alright go."

"there is no side betting... all bets are to be placed at the table." he said. "no weapons allowed in the singular races... minor physical contact however is allowed... you must challenge somepony to a race before entering the track and they must approve..." he said.

"and what about the crucible rules." i asked.

"the only rules are that you must meet certain standards before entering the crucible. once competing in the crucible you cannot leave. if you wish to exit the crucible race unharmed simply drop to last place. in the race the pony in last place at the end of every lap will be disqualified and taken off the track. other than that anything is allowed." he said.

"it still seems a bit shady." i said.

"it may seem that way but i assure you we have no intention of being distrustful or conniving." said ketro.

"alright then... i believe somepony is waiting for me." i said giving him a fake smile.

"right this way Mr. Crimson Blast." he said leading me through the portal. he walked through then i did. there was a bright flash and that faded and soon we were in a huge cave. there were glowing crystals and giant brazzers of fire everywhere. it was very well lit.

there were huge gates. though you could easily fly over them there were still gryphons guarding them. the whole place looked like some kind of ancient palace or temple. the gates were machine operated. there were gryphons on top near some big cranks. i looked around at the rest while i followed ketro. there were lots of gryphons and quite a few ponies too.

"how can there be so many ponies and gryphons here." i asked.

"that portal isn't the only one." he said. it was a bit surprising. "there are portals in all major cities inside equestria except canterlot. there are even a few portals outside of equestria." he said.

"does the princess know about this." i asked. we were growing closer to the crowds of gryphons and ponies at a booth. the booth said tickets. i guess this wasn't just a competing thing.

"yes." he said. that was a bit surprising. "she doesn't mind the portals but she disagrees with the crucible. too bad for her the track is actually far out of equestria so she has no rule over this place." he said. he gestured towards the crowd of ponies who had now grown louder. "as you can see this is a public event. ponies love to watch the races and place bets." he was talking louder now over the sound of the crowd.

i looked around a bit more and saw a giant opening in the cave wall. upon further inspection i noticed an gaping chasm between here and there. there was a nice looking stone bridge and more ponies were walking down it. that must be the entrance. i looked back to ketro and in front of me just in time to stop as we reached the gates. two guards looked at him and stared at me.

"so this is what rhet and sam we're going on about... damn i didn't believe them... thought they were drunk again but i guess they were right." said one of the guards. "it's nice to meet you Mr. crimson." he said. i nodded at him and smiled. "the gates are going to be crowded so why don't you take him to aster's office."

"alright..." said ketro. "c'mon..." he said walking off to a door near the ticket booth. "you're going to meet the boss." he said. i followed him and we walked through the door. we walked past a few rooms that were set up like a series of offices. it looked more like a business now. we eventually got to a nice looking gilded door. ketro opened the door and let me in. he followed behind.

it was a huge room. it was fancy and well decorated. the entire front part of it was a huge glass overview of the track and the stands. it was the best seat in the house. there was a desk and a nice leather spin chair. the chair spun around to reveal a very fancy and formal looking gryphon. he had a tuxedo on and he was smoking a big expensive looking guitar. he looked at me and smiled. he got up and walked over.

"ah..." he said. he had a deep voice. not like the kind you would expect from a big businessman like him. " Mr. Crimson Blast... it's a pleasure to meet you at last." he said. he took another puff of his cigar and placed it in the ashtray on his desk. "i was wondering when you would find the track... but to be honest i wasn't sure a pony with you're moral standards would even touch this place."

"well my moral standards aren't what most ponies think." i said. "you see i'm game for anything... but if it's going to end up killing me or hurting anypony who is innocent or anypony that i care for... then there's a problem." i said. "i have rules too... Mr. Aster." he smiled.

"well fortunately for you were not interested in hurting the innocent or you're family... so hopefully we can be friends." he said. he gestured over to ketro. "ketro..." he said. "you, sam, and rhet did good... i'll make sure you three get bonuses for this."

"thank you sir." ketro said smiling.

"now if you would please leave us alone so we can discuss in private."

"yes sir." he said leaving. as soon as he left aster offered me a seat. i sat down and he took off his tux and smoked the rest of his cigar. he seemed more relaxed now.

"so Mr. Crimson." he said. i stopped him there.

" Crimson is just fine." i said.

"alright crimson i can see you're not a stallion of particular high end and sophistication..." he said. he was right... i felt like i was being interviewed. "neither am i... to be honest it's just a what i do for my customers and for the public."

"i had a feeling the business deal was just an act." i said.

"not really... we are a business and we do make profit... and i would like you to race." he said. "i'm not asking you to compete in the crucible... but at least race... i'll even pay for the first race."

"so that's how you make you're money... you pay for the race and if you win then you get the reward and if you lose you get nothing." i said.

"no we make all of our money on the betting polls and the tickets. for singular races you and the opponent agree on a bet. you both pay an equal amount say... 50 bits." he said. "the prize therefore is a hundred bits... winner gets that... and the loser gets nothing." he said.

"alright i get it... how high do those numbers usually go." i asked.

"the highest we let them go is 500 and the minimum is 10, and anywhere between that is acceptable."

"what should happen if somepony loses too many times and goes broke." i asked. my game is to try and see if there is any shady side to this corporation.

"well then they go broke and can't compete." he said. "simple as that... but should they come up with ten bits and want to race and double it... well then they're welcome too." he said. i was a bit impressed.

"so what about the crucible." i asked.

"ah... now that's the pride of the company... crucible tickets are double normal tickets and ponies love to bet on the crucible. we do have a medical unit for the wounded and the dead are buried. most ponies die however on the track." he said. but the winning prize is truly spectacular.

"and you're alright with having ponies die." i asked.

"if ponies die then they die... but out of respect we have a moment of silence as the bodies are carried off the track at the end of the race before the winner claims their prize." i'm still impressed. not sure why this place was given a bad name on the street.

"alright..." i said. "i guess i did hunt this place out because i was looking for something to do." i said. "i'll take you up on that race.".

"wonderful." he said. "please if you would follow me to the competitors room." i followed him out of the office and around the corridors. we came down a flight of stairs and to some large wooden double doors. he signaled the gryphon guards to push open the doors and we both walked in. i looked around and it was a bit huge room . there was even a bar in the corner. "this is where you set up you're match." he said. "just find somepony and agree on a bet. then go to official over there and he will put you on the list then announce you're race." he said pointing to a referee looking gryphon.

"alright so i just need to go and set up a match." i asked.

"let me take care of you're first match." he said. he looked over the crowd. "everypony listen up." he said in a booming voice. everypony was quiet and looked over. they looked at him for a sec and then at me. i just realized i'm still dripping with shadows. "is there anypony here who is willing to race Mr. crimson blast here for the bet of 500 bits." there was silence then one gryphon raised his claw and the crowd dispersed around him.

"i'll race him." he said. he was a big strong looking gryphon.

"excellent." said aster.

"the match can begin now if you wish." said the official.

"even better." said aster. "the let it begin." he said. i was escorted by two guards and taken out through a door. soon enough we were on a track. it was big. it had to be at least and olympic sized track. if not bigger. the ref stood between us. he had a flag in his hoof.

"presenting a five star race between an all time favorite, and ex crucible champion two time REX." the ref announced into a magical megaphone that reached across the stadium. "an a new recruit but a familiar face... best young flier and hero of equestria... Crimson Blast." he said. the crowd roared and cheered.

so this guy one the crucible twice... this guy must be serious. i looked over him and saw that he did infact have scars. he had a determined look on his face and was ready to fly. i was a bit confident too. maybe not as confident as him but still, i was ready. soon the ref counted down.

"3...2...1..." a slight pause. "GO" and we flew off the start line. we were neck and neck but he pulled ahead. we started getting off into the air and we were halfway to the first turn. i started beating my wings faster and used my magic to broaden my wings and i pulled in front of him. we finally got to the turn and he pulled forward a bit because he had the inside on the track. i however stayed in front.

we cleared the corner and we were neck and neck again. he flew over and started bumping against me. it made me a bit angry so i bumped him back and he staggered. he bumped me again and i lost balance and fell to the pulled ahead and stayed ahead.i quickly got up and regained my original speed but he had a huge advantage. we weren't even an eighth of the way across the second straightaway and we were going at least 200 mph each. probably more. i flapped faster and faster. but he stayed ahead.

i didn't want to have my first race be like this. i let out a deep breath and started flying much faster. a small halo of energy circled around me. like when i did the sonic shadow boom. it was happening again. he was almost to the second turn and i was still far behind him. the halo of energy thickened and i had to push. the got to the turn and i pushed with all my might. i let out a fierce roar and the halo broke and so did the sound barrier. there was a loud boom and an explosion of black smoke.

i tore past the track and made the turn in only a few seconds. i was trailing black smoke behind me. i rocketed right past my competitor rex as if he were a snail and cleared to the second straightaway. the finish was at the halfway mark. i rocketed towards it and i was only yards away. my boost of energy slowed and i crossed the line. i stopped a few yards past it and floated to the ground. as my hearing came back i could hear only the sounds of ponies freaking out over me and yelling my name.

"who would have thought mares and gentlecolts." said the official "a sonic shadow boom... only done twice now and we got to see it... what a show." he said freaking out over the megaphone. "the clear and obvious winner is Crimson Blast... Crimson come get you're reward." he said from on top of a huge stone tower thing in the middle of the track. i floated over and stood next to him. he handed me and bag of money and shook my hand. i smiled and held the bag in the air.

i looked down at my opponent who didn't seem too happy that i won. in fact he seems quite mad. i guess this was a big blow to his ego or something. after the crowd settled down i was escorted back to the competing room. where i was greeted by aster. he walked up to me and smiled.

"well damn son." he said laughing. he was standing with two very important looking ponies. "what did i tell ya..." he said nudging the two ponies they were smiling. " i knew this kid was going to be good... i ask him to put on a show and he brings fireworks." he laughed again. the important pony on the left spoke up.

"that was a good show." he said. "one of the best that i've seen in awhile... you're the first pony to beat rex... congratulations." he said. then the two of them walked away. i waited until they were gone and looked back at aster.

"who were those two." i asked.

"they are the two ponies that help keep this company ticking... they place more on bets than anypony i've seen. and you win today just made me richer..." he said. "if you want to leave there's an exit portal there... it'll take you back to whichever portal you came through... or you can stay and race some more... up to you." he said and he walked away.

i walked over to the portal but i was stopped by a gryphon. it was rex. he looked down at me and he seemed a bit pissed. i had a few shadows lurking around should this get ugly.

"nopony beats me." he said.

"things change." i replied.

"you think you're tough..." he said.

"lots of ponies ask me that and they usually aren't happy about the answers i give them... you better be careful." i said.

"if you really want to make a difference then you'll compete in the crucible this Friday." he said.

"i'm not here for that." i said. "now if you don't mind." i said moving him out of the way and walking to the portal. "i have some important things to do." and with that i slipped through the portal. there was a bright flash and soon i was in the alleyway again. i walked out and saw the well. i walked around for awhile until i came across the bar i rented a room in. it was getting dark out so i decided that i will turn in. besides i was already exhausted.

i walked in and before going to my bed i grabbed a beer and chugged it. it must have been strong because i felt a little woozy. i walked to my room and crashed on the bed. i was out in a matter of seconds. i started dreaming about my family and my life in ponyville. then i started dreaming about the crucible and the races. something about that chest... felt like it was calling to me. though if it gives a pony their true hearts desire i'm almost afraid to see what's in it.

but as always i'm still dangerously curious.

-Authors Note: what a nice little shady business. it may look nice but we are going to see the true colors of the race track next chapter. on other news i moved back into my apartment near in the cape and college is going well. I've got a big project coming up so i have been working on that but it's nearing completion. it is cold as shit down here though and apparently snowing too. my arms all fixed up now... just a little sore and the skin is a bit raw from the cast but it's all good. hope you guys survived the storm... and that's that. until next time my friends... stay shady.-End of Note-


	60. Chapter 60: The Crucible

i woke up early the next day the the smell of cinnamon and apple. i got out of my bed and headed out to the main hall. i walked out and was greeted by a waitress. she was a unicorn. she was using her magic to levitate a bunch of apple pies with her.

"hello sir... would you like an apple pie." she asked. "it's complimentary to you're room."

"sure." i said. she smiled and levitated one over. i grabbed it and smiled. "thank you." i said as i took a seat. she smiled and walked over to the other ponies who were here. there were quite a few ponies. this place must be a hot spot for breakfast. i took a bite of the pie and i could see why. i didn't want to admit it but this apple pie was way better than anything i could make. it was even better than apple jacks apple pie.

i looked around and saw that everypony was enjoying apple pie. the waitress came back around and this time she had jugs of cider. she handed me one and i thanked her again. i took a sip and smiled. it was good but not as good as applejack's apple cider. which reminds me i should write. i finished up and headed into my room. i took out a scroll and the inkwell and feather and started writing.

"Dear friends and family." i started with. "i've arrived in gryphon village and it's a nice place. i haven't made friends with any of the gryphons and i'm staying at a nice little inn. i did have some fun racing the gryphons. but that's pretty much all i did. i might stay here another day then i cross the barrier. the inn i'm staying at seems to be famous for their apple pies and cider. of course they're nowhere near as good as yours applejack." i paused for a moment to think about my friends. i smiled and kept writing. "i hope you all are having a wonderful and relaxing time... love Crimson Blast."

i wrapped the letter up and tied the bow and i was a neat little scroll. i tossed it lightly in the air and it vanished in a puff of green smoke and flames. the smoke and flames whisked away out the window. i waited a few minutes and there was another flash of green in front of me. it was a letter. i could always expect them to write back but this is the fastest yet... i guess i'm becoming more regular with my writing. i opened up the note and read.

"Dear Crimson." the note started. "we are glad that you are having fun and we look forward to you're letters everyday. they usually come around 6 in the morning and we all gather at my house to read them every morning. if it doesn't show by seven then that usually means you forgot. anyway applejack want's to thank you for complimenting her apple cider and pies. and dash want's you to know that she loves you. the rest of us love you too. we hope you can still write to us from past the barrier and be safe... write to us before you cross., Love twilight, pinkie, rarity, applejack, fluttershy, rainbow dash, and thunder rush."

the note ended and i smiled. i folded it up and put it in the pouch of my bag that i keep full of their notes. being able to write to them and get a response so quickly is reassuring. just before i was about to head out there was another flash of green and a scroll dropped to the floor. i was confused. i grabbed it and opened it. it was another note but this time just from rainbow dash.

"Dear Crimson." it read. "i miss you so much... i wish you were home but you have to do what you have to do. sometimes i think whether or not i should have let you go, but i know it's for the best... there have been a few crazy adventures here... but nothing we couldn't handle without, and of course derek helped too... the kids are alright... dawns wings came in about a week ago and she's been floating around ever since... only a matter of time until her body weighs her down... she also said her first words yesterday... she said "daddy"... thought you would like to know... i hope you come back soon... the bed gets so lonely that i usually have scootaloo sleep with me... be safe, i love you... Rainbow dash."

the note almost brought tears to my eyes. i was missing so much. my family was growing up and i wasn't there to see it. i was feeling conflicting emotions. i was happy but sad at the same time. it's a very rare mixture of emotions. i almost felt like laughing while i cried. but i held it back and just smiled while a few tears fell down the side of my face.

i folded up the letter and collected my thoughts. i smiled and knew that today was going to be another adventure. i looked at a calendar hanging up in my room and saw that today was friday... if i was correct the crucible is today. guess i'm too late to sign up... like i cared. i walked out of my room and headed for the exit of the inn when the bartender stopped me.

"hey kid." he said. i walked over and took a seat.

"i heard about you're race yesterday... can't believe i was serving cheap beer to a hero like yerself." he said. "showed that guy rex what's what eh." he said laughing a dry wheezy laugh. i did a little charity laugh so it wouldn't be awkward.

"word travels fast." i said. "i've learned that lesson plenty of times. if i do something it's sure to come and bite me in the ass in about a day."

"well you take care... and don't get yourself killed." he said. i smiled and waved as i got up and left the inn. i walked outside and took a nice deep breath of morning air. i think i'll just relax today. i walked around and minded my own business until two large gryphon thugs stopped me. i recognized them as the guards to the arena portal.

"what do you two want." i asked.

"aster is looking for you." said one of them. "says it's real important." i didn't want to cause trouble so i decided to play along and i followed them. they lead me to the well then the alleyway. they pushed aside the brick walls and we all jumped through the portal. at the iron gates i expected to see crowds of ponies but there was nopony. just aster and about 50 guards... this isn't going to be good. i walked up to him and he seemed very upset.

"what seems to be the problem here." i asked.

"you've got quite the habit for causing trouble." he said. "or so i was told... i didn't think so until recently."

"great what happened now." i asked rolling my eyes.

"this isn't funny." he said. "rex is in there and he has refused to compete in the crucible unless you compete too..." said aster.

"i'm not competing in the crucible." i said.

"you don't have a choice and neither do I." he said. "if you don't compete then he walks and i lose one of my best racers... then the crucible is ruined and i'm out millions." he said. "if you don't compete i will make it my life goal to make you're life a personal hell." he said.

i thought about it for a second. i had come to the logical conclusion earlier that i would one day eventually end up in the crucible... i just didn't think it would be this soon. i can't afford to have somepony with as many connections and friends as this guy become my enemy. he probably would complicate my life and hurt innocent ponies to do it.

"alright fine." i said. "but we all know how this is going to end."

"good... but do try and keep the violence down." he said.

"tough luck." i said walking up to him and lighting my eyes aglow with dark energy.

"well if you must. bring him to his station" he said gesturing a few guards. soon enough i was being brought onto the track. i was placed at the end far away from rex who was staring me down. there was a wall of weapons and all the ponies chose one. rex chose a sword. i took nothing. the others laughed at me but i stayed determined.

the ref announced us and i could feel my heart pumping. while he was announcing i used my shadows to pull together armour and get myself ready. i was in my full shadow form and the other gryphons seemed a bit... terrified. i was going to show no mercy. maybe scare some sense into the rest of the ponies and gryphons. i noticed that i was the only pony.

"3...2...1..." said the ref my heart stopped. "GO" then it kicked back up immediately and i blasted out onto the track. i flew slow so the others could keep up. they all started attacking each other. one gryphon fell and hit the ground. he tried to get back up but fell again. the crowd roared vigorously.

one gryphon came up to me with an ax and slashed it at me. i dodged it and spun. i twirled in the air and spiraled a shadow around me and crashed it down on his skull. it pinned him to the ground and he was dead. the crowd roared. i was in the lead so far. i dropped back and braked hard. two gryphons were in the middle of battle. i used my shadows to sharpen my wings and as soon as the flew past i spread out my wings and cut the two of them in half. they fell to the ground dead.

after a while a few more gryphons fell to the ground mostly injured or dying. the only ones to hit the ground dead were my kills and rex's kills. there were only five gryphons left. one was killed by another and i killed two and so did rex. we were on the last lap.

"now remember audience." said the announcer. "the last lap is a fight to the finish and the finish line is no longer a disqualifier." i guess that rules out not killing rex. he caught up to me and i looked at him. i used my shadows to make a sword and he attacked. we were locked in combat. he was good. i slashed at him and he parried the attack and slashed me across the chest. i slashed him back and it was an all out attack. we both were taking hits.

we both struck and our swords clashed and it was a stalemate. we pressed at each other for another lap and a half. i pushed as hard as i could and strained my body. the symbols glowed brighter and brighter. i pushed back and he was giving in. he summoned up some strength and pushed back until he was prevailing. i pushed back harder and we were even again. we made the turn and spun through the air and whirled by the track. i kept staring him in the eyes. he had nothing but hatred on his face.

"we'll see who's strong now." he said.

"i guess we will." i said. we continued to fight and push our swords. we were coming close to the finish line. i pushed harder and he did too. he started letting out a roar and i did too. the second we crossed the finish line his sword broke and my strenght forced my sword poast him and it cut through his neck. i was a bit thrown off but i regained my balance. i stopped and looked back. his head had gone a few feet into the air and his body went a couple yards forward before hitting the ground. his body skidded and stopped only seconds before his head hit the ground and rolled for a bit. the crowd was silent.

i looked around and looked over them. they suddenly burst into cheering and started going wild. they chanted my name and the ref flew over. he grabbed my hoof and raised it into the air. he announced me as the winner and brought me over to the bid stone tower from last time. it was empty except for a large glowing a golden chest. aster flew onto the platform and smiled at me.

"as the winner of this months crucible i now offer you the ultimate reward." he said taking a key and unlocking the chest. "you may now claim you're prize from the chest of destiny... reach in and you will have you're hearts desire." he said smiling. i walked over and looked into the chest. there was nothing but blindingly white light. it hurt my eyes so i looked away.

i reached my hoof in. i was honestly afraid to see what my true heart's desire was. i felt around until i came across something. i slowly pulled it out and looked at what it was. it was a red heart shaped gem. there didn't seem to be anything special about it. i looked at it and i could see pictures in my head. they were enticing and blurry. nothing but colors until they clarified. when i saw what the picture was i almost started crying.

it was a picture of my wife... of my family back on earth. of linda and sarah... they were smiling but it was just a picture. that picture faded and a new one appeared. it was of my mother and father... my sister kate and brother josh. i smiled. pictures of my friends and family flew by my face. i was also flooded with pictures of happy moments in my life before ponyville. pictures and memories i otherwise would have forgotten. i smiled and slowly looked away from the gem. as i looked away the pictures faded and i snapped back to reality.

"well." asked aster. "what is it."

"nothing." i said. "just some memories of a life i used to know."

"well suit yourself." he said he raised my hand up and the crowd cheered again. after the crowd settled down aster lead me into his office. he shut the door and went to the window. "you really saved my ass today kid." he said "thanks"

"i was going to kill you for threatening me anyway." i said jokingly. he laughed and took a seat in his leather chair. "but seeing as i'm suddenly in a good mood... i'll let it go."

"you're the best kid." he said "one race and the you prove you're mettle in the crucible... i guess this i why rumours spread fast about you."

"well i think i've had enough." i said. "i'm going now."

"yeah go... there are no races when there's a crucible." he said.

"no...i'm going... as in expect me to never show up here again." i said.

"woah wait a minute kid." he said flying in front of me and blocking me from leaving through the door "you can't just leave me without a champion... you killed my last one... you can't go now the crowd is expecting you."

"there are a lot of ponies expecting me, Mr. aster." i said moving him aside. "unfortunately for you i don't care about the crowd... so i'm leaving." i said i walked past him and opened the door but said one last thing before leaving. "i entered the crucible because i didn't want any future complications... but if any of my friends or family are hurt and i trace it back to you... this place will go from being a race track... to a mass grave." i said. and with that i left. i wandered the halls until i got to the racing room and exited through the portal.

i was back in gryphon village and it was barely past 11 in the morning. i was a bit tired and realized that i was bleeding and broken. the wounds were fixing themselves but they were deep so it would take time. i walked out of the alleyway and into the streets. i walked around and eventually my wounds had faded and were nothing but light and barely visible scars. i walked around some more and stopped at a restaurant and got something to eat. i pulled out the heart shaped gem and looked into it again. i was filled with memories and pictures of my old life. i smiled.

before i knew it i had looked away from the gem when some guy nudged me and called at me.

"hey... hey kid snap out of it." i looked away and looked around. it was dark outside. what the hell. "kid you've been looking into that gem all day... are you alright." he asked.

"yeah just... yeah i'm fine." i said. "thanks for snapping me out of it." i said getting up.

"yeah no problem kid... just take it easy. he said walking away. i put the gem back in my bag and walked away to the inn. i got there and instantly was greeted by several ponies. and gryphons. they were cheering at me. one of them had a sign that read. "go crimson... the crucible champ." dammit.

"how did you find out where i live." i said quietly to myself. they were cheering too loud to here me and just kept cheering. i shuffled past the crowd and took a seat at the bar. the bar keep walked over and smiled at me.

"well if it ain't the champ himself..." he looked to the crowd of ponies. "alright get outa here... the lot of ya... can't ya see the guy needs his rest... you're screamin ain't helpin. "he said shooing away the ponies and gryphons. they left and it was just us and the barmaid.

"once again word spreads faster than i can blink." i said signaling for a beer.

"well the crucible is a very renown and famous event... there was no way somepony wasn't going to spread the word in seconds." said the barkeep handing me a beer. i looked at it and it was just a bottle of vodka... perfect. i took a swig and put the bottle down.

"thanks for clearing the crowd." i said.

"meh... they were getting on my nerves too." he said smiling. i let out a small laugh and took another swig. "so what did the chest give ya." he asked. i handed him the gem and he looked at it. he stared into it for a few minutes dazed. i was about to nudge him when he snapped out of it.

"know what it is." i asked.

"yeah... i do..." he said handing me the gem. "it's a remembering gem... quite the artifact... just ask it any question about you're past and it will show you the memory... very useful... but i don't think you got it just for usefulness. he said smiling.

"you're right." i said smiling. "so far when i look into it all i see is... well my past life... before i came to ponyville." i said.

"so why not head back." he asked. i laughed a bit in irony.

"if only it was that easy." i said.

"what... you get in trouble or something."

"yeah... something like that... i can't go back to my past life at this point... it's not possible."i said.

"well kid... at least you got that gem."

"thanks..." i said. we sat there in a bit of awkward silence. i finished the vodka and he started washing the counter top. "hey." i said. "can i ask you a favor."

"yeah sure... whatcha need."

"if i'm not out of my room by six thirty tomorrow morning can you wake me." i asked. "i need to get going. got a bit of a journey ahead of me."

"yeah kid." he said. "i'll get sun sprout, over there." he said pointing to the barmaid. "she'll wake you up at six thirty no problem."

"thanks." i said and with that i stumbled to my bedroom and closed the door. i fell on my bed and slowly passed out in a drunken haze. i closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. i dreamed about my friends and family back in ponyville. and soon i was off into my own little dream world.

i woke up the next morning to the sound of knocking at my door. i opened up and i slowly opened my eyes. it was the barmaid. she seemed a little tired herself but a bit messy. i could hear glasses and plates from outside the room. guess it was busy out there.

"oi... " she said. "wakey wakey... now get up." he said and she left... how lovely. i got up and gave myself a minute to wake myself up. i walked over to the door and pushed it open. i took a seat on a bench. barmaid walked over and handed me some pie and cider. i spent the next half hour eating my food and then i left. i gave the bartender some bits for helping me out in the village and i got my stuff and left. i checked the map a few times and eventually got on the right path.

i spread my wings and flew off down the roads. i followed them all day. by the time it was well past noon i could see the barrier coming into view. unlike the last time i left there were no guards standing by this entrance. i looked past the barrier and there was nothing but snowy forest.

i touched down at the edge of the road and looked at the barrier. i gulped and slowly walked forward. i closed my eyes and let the shield phase around me. i walked right through and the temperature immediately changed. it was cold as hell. i looked forward past the blizzard and could barely make out mountains.

i pulled out the map and checked the path that gryphon at the bar showed me. i opened up the map but the strong winds quickly blew it out of my hooves and it disappeared into the storm... fucking shit... oh well. i think i can still remember what she told me. she said to keep right and go into the weeping forest. i think she mentioned a trail... so i'll just take every right i find until i get there.

well... this is where the real journey begins... well equipped and ready to go but no map. i didn't think the weather would be this cold... so that's going to be a problem... and i can't fly in this shit storm... i just hope that the rest of my shit doesn't blow away in the wind.

****the shit i get myself into.


	61. Chapter 61: Unforeseen Events

it's been almost 2 days since i crossed the border out of equestria. the mountain weather is cold and the storm hasn't let up yet. i usually wake up buried under snow. and it's cold as fuck... the terrain only goes upward so i'm still working my way through the mountains. this isn't going to be easy.

as the cold winds and snow beat against my face i trotted down a road coated in snow. there was no way of telling if there was a road or not but i was just following the parting in the the tree's. i continued to trot forward and soon in was faced with a bit of a cliff. i couldn't see much from the blur of the snow but it was deep.

i focused again and noticed a faint glow through the storm and snow. there must be something down there. i quickly looked around and saw a path leading down the edge of the cliff. i walked over and tested the slope for ice. after the check i started making my way down.

i walked down the winding path for a few minutes before the light became brighter. the storm around me started to fade. it was finally letting up. but just barely. after a few more minutes a small town came into view. i made it to the end of the path and walked towards the town. there were lights on inside but nopony outside. it felt like a ghost town.

"hellooo" i said walking down the street between houses. the storm stopped dying down and picked back up. really fast. it soon started raining a combination of thick snow and sharp hale. as the hale started hitting my skin and cutting it i grit my teeth. the speeding winds almost blew me away but i grounded myself.

i was confined to small steps. i trudged through the street hoping somepony would help me. i called out but nopony came. i didn't even see any faces through the windows. eventually i heard the soft crunching of snow from behind me. i turned and saw a black figure. he walked forward and came into picture.

"what are you doing out here boy." he asked me. he was wrapped in thick leather and cloth. "you're going to die... come with me." he said. he turned and started walking. without hesitation i followed. we walked up to a house and he opened the door. he let me inside and walked in himself. he closed the door and it was quiet.

he had a small house. much like the ones in indigo city. this style must be common out of equestria. i let the warmth hit my fur and skin and warm me up. he had a roaring fire going and something was cooking. it smelt delicious. i shook the snow off of me and he did too. he smiled at me and i smiled back.

"thank you." i said.

"no problem stranger." he said taking off his wrappings and leather. he was a brown earth pony. he had a white mane and hazel eyes. he had a few scars on his face but they were small ones. after removing more leather i saw that he had an axe with him. and by the looks of it it's seen some action. "what the hell are you doing out here in the worst storm of the year."

"i'm on a quest from equestria." i said. he seemed intrigued. " i've been stuck in this storm for 4 days."

"well you're lucky..." he said. " this is just the beginning of the worst... you ever seen lighting during a snowstorm." he asked with a strange smile on his face.

"uhm... i didn't think that happened."

"well you thought wrong." he said. immediately, almost as if he planned it. there was a flash and a loud crash followed by a mini quake. "see." he said looking at a window.

"well... thank you for helping me... is there anywhere i can go to wait out the storm." i asked.

"it's too dangerous to go out... you can stay with me." he said.

"thank you... how long does the storm last." i asked.

"only a day. it'll clear up after tomorrow and you can get on with you're quest." he said. "here you can go drop you things in that room over there." he said pointing to a door across the room. "get comfortable because i've got dinner cooking."

"thank you." i said again smiling. i walked to the room and opened it up. it closed the door and placed my bag on the ground. i took off all of the fur and cloth wraps rarity gave me and laid them down near the fireplace in the room. i'll let those dry while i get settled in. there wasn't much to do to settle in. i got out the quill and ink but before i could write a letter the other pony called.

"dinner." he said. i put the quill down and walked out of the room. i walked over to a table where he was sitting. there was a second bowl of food. i sat down and looked at the food. it look like gruel... but i'm not complaining.

"looks good." i said. he smiled and looked at me before eating.

"i don't think we are properly introduced." he said. "i'm blackstrom... the village smithy." he stuck his hoof out and i shook his hoof.

"i'm crimson blast.' i said. "i guess you can call me the hero of equestria."

"a hero huh... impressive... but you don't look very imposing... how does an earth pony like you get a title like that." he asked.

"im... i'm not an earth pony." i said. i flared out my wings and he seemed a bit taken back. his expression changed.

"oh you're... a pegasus." he said with a monotone voice

"what's the matter." i said putting my wings back to my side.

"nothing... we don't get many visitors here... especially unicorns or pegasi... it's just a bit surprising that's all."

"you don't seem surprised." i said looking at him. he was avoiding eye contact. "if there's a problem i could just go... i can survive the storm." i said.

"no... no you can't." he said finally looking at me. "it's fine... just promise you'll leave as soon as you can when the weather clears."

"yeah sure..." i said. "is it a problem with the town... do you have a problem with pegasi." i asked.

"it's not really a problem it's just that this is an earth pony town... and we like to keep it that way." he said.

"alright... i can get that." i said. we were silent for a bit and he started to eat and so did i. i'm not sure what i was eating but it was far better than gruel. it wasn't bad actually. we both finished our food and he took the bowl. i stood up and watched him carry them into the corner of the room and put them in a large bucket of water. he walked over to the stairs.

"it's getting late...i'm turning in." he said. " you can stay up as late as you want and you're welcome to any food in the house." he said. "goodnight."

"alright." i said as he walked up the stairs. "goodnight." he walked up and was soon out of view. i walked over to my room and closed the door. i picked up my quill again and started writing a letter. it was a bit late but i felt like writing.

"dear friends and family." i wrote. "i know it has been a while since i've last written but there's a storm out here and i can't write without the wind blowing away everything. luckily i've found a small town and somepony was nice enough to let me stay until the storm clears. although he does seem a little sketchy... but nice enough to let me stay with him. i will be leaving as soon as possible... i hope you're all safe and having fun... love Crimson blast."

i rolled up the paper and tossed it into the air. it burst into a cloud of green smoke and seeped through the walls. i put the quill and ink away and put it back into the bag. i reached around and picked up the rembrandt. i sat down on the bed and looked at it.

my mind was filled with memories of my past life. i saw a few pictures and memories of me and derek when we were in brazil. i saw the rest of my team and also my family. i started to see memories of when i was young and in school. i smiled. my fun was soon interrupted by a small green flash. i pulled the rembrandt away and looked around.

there was a note on the ground. they couldn't have replied that fast... maybe it was just twilight's. i bent over and picked it up. i unrolled it and a small book fell out of the note. i disregarded it and let it lay on the ground. i quickly looked over the note. the hoof writing wasn't like any ponies i knew. i decided to read it.

"Dear Crimson blast..." the note read. "i have intercepted this letter. don't worry because the real one is still on it's way to twilight... i can't help you much with celestia watching me but this was the best i could do. this book is imbued with a powerful magic. it will answer any question you have. simply write the question on a page and the answer will be revealed... i'm grateful for all of you're help and i've been watching you from the sky... very impressive i might say... i know i chose the right pony to help me... but be wary around this town you're staying in... it's not as convenient and cozy as you might think... Sincerely, Princess Luna."

princess luna wrote this letter. it does make me feel a bit awkward knowing that she's been watching me. but it adds a certain... comfort to the fact that i'm not completely alone... but if luna says this place isn't what it seems to be then i was right. i should be careful. i rolled up the letter and put it on the bed. i looked at the ground and picked up the book. it was small in size but it was thick. like some kind of diary but different. i opened it up and flipped through the pages which were all black.

i hovered the quill and ink over to me and opened up to the first page of the book. i took a few seconds to think about a question but i thought of one quickly. i dipped the quill in the ink and wrote. i wrote "are my friends and family happy and safe." i waited for a few seconds but nothing happened.

then suddenly small marks started appearing below my question. they were in random patterns and directions but after awhile i started to make out words and soon enough there was an answer right in front of my face. i was definitely interested in this book. my time here has made me develop a curiosity for magical items. i read the answer.

"your friends and family are happy... though they miss you. you wife and daughter the most of all. there are mixed emotions but joy and determination seem to prevail over other emotions... they will be happy when you return."

i smiled and flipped to the next page. i took second to count the pages in the book. there were 150 pages including the page i already wrote on. that meant i could answer 149 questions. this was going to be useful. but i don't want to waste it... there is only one more question that i have left. i wrote it down.

"have i made the right choices." i wrote. i waited a second and the answer slowly started to appear under the question. i waited a second and the answer was soon clear. i read it.

"there is no telling what choices are right... there is only making the decision and hoping for the best outcome... you're choices have so far had optimal outcome for you and the ponies you care about... in the end morality and emotion ultimately decide the fate of everypony... and the ones they hold dearest."

i was a bit confused but after reading it over i realized that it makes sense. there are no right answers only different choices. i guess no matter how hard i try to understand there will always just be something else. i smiled and closed the book. i tucked it away in my bag and put some of my stuff away. i crawled under the covers of the bed and closed my eyes. i slowly drifted to sleep and like every other night i thought about my family and friends before finally drifting into my own dream world.

i was woken up the next day by knocking at the bedroom door. i got up and opened the door. just as i thought blackstrom was at the door. who else would it be. i smiled and he did too. he still seemed a bit tired. i was as well.

"c'mon." he said. "breakfast is ready." he walked out and i followed him to the table. on the table were a few bran muffins. we sat down and ate. i ate a few muffins and so did he. he got up and put the muffins on a shelf with other foods. he tossed the wooden platter in the large bucket and walked over to the fire.

"so... what do we do trapped inside all day." i asked.

"well i live alone... so i usually just play cards by myself." he said grabbing a deck of cards from the fire mantle and tossing it to me. the deck of cards brought a smile to my face. i haven't played cards in such a long time. "most other ponies have wives or families to spend the blizzard with...i don't... at least not anymore." he said sulking his head.

"oh..." i said with my smile fading. "i'm so sorry... what happened to her." i asked.

"she was... she was attacked by a bear." he said. that seems a bit unlikely. as much as i didn't want to sound condescending, i couldn't help my suspicion from peeking.

"that's horrible... did they kill the bear." i asked.

"yes they did... she was out scavenging berries and fruits during the summer season and she was attacked. the local hunters found her and the bear and killed it... she died before they could get her back to the village." he said hanging his head.

"i'm sorry about you're loss... i know what it's like."

"why... you a lose you're wife too." he asked.

"yeah." i said. "and my daughter... that's why i moved to equestria and changed my name." i said.

"where were you from before you moved." he asked.

"i was in a small village from the south... just a little one near the wasteland... not big enough to be worth mentioning." i said.

"well... shit happens." he said perking up a bit. i started to as well. "but hey... don't worry... everything happens for a reason." i smiled.

"yeah..." i picked up the cards. "so do you know how to play any good card games." i asked.

he smiled and walked over. for the duration of the day we spent our time playing poker and other card games. this world didn't have many human card games. he taught me some of this worlds games and i taught him some of my worlds games. i made the excuse of these games being native to ponyville and the fake town i made up.

he was good at cards. i hadn't played in a while so he won a lot in the beginning but eventually i got into it and the scores evened out. we told stories while we played about adventures and stuff we went on. i left out a lot of details and some adventures but he enjoyed listening to them. we were playing 5 card stud which is one game our worlds have in common.

halfway through the game there was a knock on the door. it caught me off guard and i jumped a bit and dropped the cards. backstrom's expression changed. i was surprised to know that there were ponies out in this weather. i looked at him and he back at me. there was another knock.

"wait here." he said. he dropped his cards and walked over to the door. i watched as he opened it up and revealed two ponies in leather wraps. they came in uninvited and blackstrom closed the door behind them. they started mumbling but i couldn't hear through their leather. they took off their wraps and they were like twins. both had dark grey fur with brown hair and blue eyes.

"so how long did you plan on hiding the newcomer from us." said one of them.

"what hiding... have you not noticed the weather outside..." said blackstrom. "he would have died out there..."

"can we talk to him." the other one asked. hearing that i stood up ready to confront them. i kept my wings close to my side hoping they wouldn't notice. blackstrom pointed over to me and the two ponies walked over slowly. blackstrom seemed worried. the two eventually got to me and looked me over. i don't think they noticed my wings.

"what are you doing here stranger." one of them asked.

"just passing through." i said staying calm. i looked calm on the outside but i was nervous otherwise.

"where are you going." he asked. i felt like i was being interrogated by the police.

"to blackmarsh... it's a quest." i said.

"look..." said the other one. "he has wings." he said. dammit. since its already out i let my wings flare out and showed them off. the seemed a bit surprised.

"not many ponies around these parts have wings... infact none of the ponies 'round here have wings." he said.

"been awhile since we've had pegasus." said the other one. that one sentence frightened me a bit. i really hope he let his grammar slip. the first pony looked at him with an intense stare and he shied away.

"look... i'm not here looking for trouble... just let me stay here and i'll leave tomorrow when the storms clear." i said. the first one glared at me. i glared back. he smiled.

"alright..." he said. "but you have to be gone by 8 tomorrow." he said.

"alright then." i said. the walked out and blackstrom closed the door smiling. the second the door shut his expression changed and he ran over to me.

"this is not good... not good not good... definitely not good." he said. pacing around grabbing random things.

"what's wrong..." i asked.

"oh no no no no... you have to leave..." he said. "right now."

"what why... what's going on." i asked. he ran into my room and i watched him grab all of my stuff. he ran out and threw the bags on my back. he walked over to a thick iron and wood door and opened it up. i looked over and it was a cellar. using a torch we walked down and lit other torches.

"get down here now." he shouted from the bottom. confused and slightly scared i followed his orders and walked down the stairs. i saw him standing in an open room with torches all around him. he walked over to a wall with a tarp hanging on it. "you have to go." he said.

"tell me what's going on now." i said raising my voice... he just walked to the edges of the tarp and un pinned them. the tarp fell and revealed a large tunnel.

"quickly through here." he said. "they'll be back soon... quickly go."

"WHAT is going on." i said shouting.

"they're going to kill you... and then me if you don't run."

"i don't understand... why?" i asked. before he could answer there was a loud crash upstairs. he looked at me.

"it's beyond you... now run... i'll be fine." he said. he grabbed me and tossed me into the hole. he threw in a torch and pinned the tarp back up. i stayed for a second and slowly made my way down the cave with the torch floating next to me. i was so confused.

i walked and walked until the entrance was far behind me... or so i thought. i couldn't tell because of the thick darkness around me. it was getting cold so i used my shadows to wrap myself in armour to stay warm. i trudged through the tunnel and there was a loud bang that echoed behind me. i turned.

there was nopony there. i then heard voices. i couldn't make them out. i tried harder but they were drowned out by the sound of thousands of blood curdling screams. i backed up with an expression of fear on my face. there was a laugh followed by a cascade of evil sounds.

the sounds and screams echoed through the cave. i was horrified. i turned and ran. i ran as fast as i could down the long winding tunnel. i heard something behind me though. it sounded like... rushing water. i looked behind me to see if the cave was flooding and it was. but it wasn't flooding with water... it was a rushing wave of blood.

i was even more terrified now. i ran faster and faster. i got tired of running and jumped up and spread my wings. that was a mistake because the tunnel wasn't big enough for my wingspan and i just fell back to the ground. before i could get up i was swept away by the current.

i held my breath while the rushing current threw me against walls and sharp rocks. i tried to endure the pain but i hit a sharp part of the wall and i let out a painful burst of breath. without thinking i inhaled. somehow i could breathe in the blood... not the greatest but still. now that i can breathe i can concentrate.

i tried swimming through the current but it was too strong and i was hurt. i hit against the wall again and let out a yell of pain through the blood. as i was pushed through the tunnel i saw a dim light... it was the exit. i was smashed against more walls and rocks causing more of my bones to break.

the light finally surrounded me and as my vision cleared i saw i was falling in a waterfall of blood. the ground was at least 100 feet away. this was going to hurt. as the ground grew closer i closed my eyes. i hit the ground hard and felt like crying out but i couldn't. the pressure of the falling blood in my back pressing me to the ground was excruciating.

****eventually i passed out.

-Authors Note: Hey guys... sorry it's been a while. i admit I've been procrastinating but i'm working on that. i just got an Ipad and it's the main source of distraction in my life right now. but i promise at least 1 more chapter before thanksgiving. maybe two or three but at least one more. this chapter did not meet the desired outcome. i had something planned but it went through changes... i was originally going to have them be cannibals... don't worry that's not a spoiler... they aren't cannibals... oh and one more thing. i got this idea from one of my followers Wolfoftheabyss5... if any of you guys want your OC in the story i can work my magic to make it happen... i need a detailed description and random information (height, hair color, race... etc.). just PM me with the info and i'll work my magic. i do not , however promise that all OC's will be used... anybody who gets their OC in will be informed... and others who submitted one but couldn't get them in will be apologized to... i can not promise that your OC will be put into the story immediately... but i will let you know when i work on it and tell you about the chapter... so have fun... and stay shady.-End of Note-


	62. Chapter 62: Band Of Merry Travelers

**!WARNING!**

**This chapter contains scenes depicting sexual activity and nudity.**

**If you do not want to read such thing immediately throw a weighted object at you computer monitor.**

i slowly started to regain consciousness the the feeling of warmth. i slowly opened my eyes to see the starry night sky. there was something bright flashing next to me. i looked over to see a orange and red glow. i eyes were still closed but i could tell it was a fire... why is it that everytime i pass out i wake up somewhere else.

"hey he's awake." said a somepony. it was a female.

"about time..." said another voice but this time male. i followed the voices to see three ponies in armour. one mare and two colts. they must be adventurers or something. i tried to speak up but i was still tired and hurting. i watched as the mare walked over with a bowl floating next to her... she was wearing cloth robing.

"here..." she said. "drink this... it'll get you up and running." she held the bowl to my mouth and i slowly drank up the liquid. it was bitter but zesty. i finished it off and i could already feel my energy returning. i opened my eyes to get a better look at the ponies who helped me and the area around me.

we were outside in some kind of small camp. the other two ponies sat on logs by the fire. there was a grey one with blue hair and a light brown one with black hair. the grey one had black leather on and a cowl with a mask. he had straps and knives on him and a bow with arrows on his back...he must be an archer or hunter. i looked again and noticed he had wings.

the light brown one had heavy looking steel armour. a wind picked up and showed that he had a red cloth cape on his armour. it was torn and full of holes and tears. he had a large sword in the snow next to him. he had two smaller swords on his back and daggers at his side. he looked at me and smiled. the archer took his cowl and mask off and did the same. i smiled back.

i looked back at the mare who helped me who was now stepping back. she was a light blue colored unicorn with white light purple hair. she smiled at me. she had ornate robes with decorative patterns and designs. she had her hood up over her head and her horn stuck out through a hole in the top. she had an ornate staff with a ruby spike at the top and some kind of opal ball on the bottom.

"you must be quite the adventurer to go into aldervale and survive." she said. she had a soothing but commanding voice.

"what... What's aldervale." i asked stuttering. she seemed surprised... so did the other two.

"you mean you don't know what aldervale is..." she asked.

"where are you from kid." said the night. he had a deep raspy voice... if i had to guess he like to shout during battle.

"i'm a famous adventurer from equestria." i said.

"that explains it." said the archer... he had a snide and devilish voice. "he's just a victim that got lucky..." he said.

"i wouldn't say victim..." said the mage. "but lucky indeed... well at least you're alright..."

"we thought you we're dead... like the rest." said the archer.

"yeah... i already had my eyes set on you're stuff... but when adelphus here said you were alive we decided to help you." said the warrior.

"your things are in that tent there... they were scattered pretty well in that lake of blood you were laying in..." said the mage. i smiled at her and the other two.

"thank you very much for helping me... if there's something you need... i can repay you." i said.

"thats more like it..." said the warrior.

"damnit maxius..." said adelphus standing up. "is that all you care about."

"what..." said maxius. "i can't help it." he said. they both laughed. the mage giggled a bit too. she looked back at me and smiled.

"well as you can tell that's maxius" she said pointing to the warrior. "and that's adelphus." she said pointing to the archer. "and i'm abelia."

"i'm crimson blast." i said standing up. i got on all fours but limped a bit. all three of them seemed a bit shocked. "thank you for you're help... and i can pay you if you want." i said looking at maxius. "it's not a problem... really." i said.

"how... how are you standing..." asked adelphus. "i was sure three of you're legs were broken and several other bones as well." i smiled at him.

"they might have been." i said. "but i'm a bit of an oddball... trust me, you may not know it... but i'm probably the most interesting pony you will ever see."

"if i had to guess... i'd say you're not lying." said adelphus. before i could say anything abelia quickly took several steps back and had an expression on fear on her face. both adelphus and maximus stood up and were at full alert.

"what is it abelia." asked maximus. i just stared at her and she stared back.

"i... it's him..." she said pointing at me. "he has an indescribable amount of magical power... it's literally just pouring out of him." she said. she stared back at me and her eyes started to glow white and she rose up off the ground. she then just kept floating there.

"what's wrong with her." i asked.

"she's reading you're power... she's a soul seeker..." said adelphus.

"yeah... she can see into you're soul and tell everything about you" said maxius. "stuff like how powerful you are and all that junk."

i waited there and we all watched her float. i was still confused as to who these ponies we're. i was even more confused about that town up there. i wanted to know what was going on in that town. before i could ask myself more questions abelia's eyes returned to normal and she touched the ground. she looked at me and the others.

"what are you." she asked with a serious face. i, however, smiled at her. she walked over to the others and they confronted me.

"now that's a difficult question to answer... i'm not sure if i even know... here let me show you." i said. i planted all hooves on the ground and rooted myself. i concentrated and pulled all the surrounding shadows to me and they covered me. they wrapped around me and hardened into armour. they slowly built out spikes and covered me.

on the open parts of my body you could see the symbols and pictures glow black and light up. i opened my eyes and they glowed black. the had a trail of whisping black smoke trailing from them, which was new. i shot out my wings and they were covered in darkness and shadows. i smiled and showed my fangs. i let some shadows pool around me and raised up a few tentacles. i sat there and smiled at them. but they had horrified faces about them.

"it's a demon..." said maxius.

"no..." said adelphus. "he must be some kind of dark spirit here to haunt us... i knew something was wrong with him." he said. they both got their weapons ready.

"no..." said abelia. "he's much more than that... he's something completely new.

"how predictable." i said with a demonic undertone "it's always the fools and cowards that are so quick to draw their weapons to the unknown." i said. "maybe this will spread some light on the situation."

i concentrated and the shadows soon faded but did not go. the armour and tentacles were soon replaced by light and golden armour. the symbols on my body changed color and my eyes glowed white now with a light golden trail. my hair and tail turned translucent and waved behind me.

i closed my wings and shot them out again. sparks of light jetted out and others started flying off my body in random places. a golden halo floated above my head and my fangs were once again just my regular teeth. they seemed more surprised than before.

"i knew it." said abelia. "i told you he was the hero of equestria." she said. i was a bit taken away by this comment. how on earth did they know about me.

"i guess you were right..." said maxius. he and delphius lowered their weapons. i smiled and cast the light off of my body. it dissipated and i was normal again.

"how do you guys know about me... i can't be that famous." i said. they sat down at the fire and invited me over. i walked over and sat down on a log next the abelia.

"when somepony becomes filthy rich and powerful word gets around fast." said delphius.

"especially when that pony has a battle with the princess of equestria and wins." said maxius. "and then spares her life... ridiculous."

"what are you doing outside of equestria..." asked abelia.

"and how did a pony like you get beaten up like that by that town..." asked delphius butting in.

"i'm here on a quest for princess luna... i'm on my way to blackmarsh." i said.

"that's one hell of a quest." said maxius.

"what do you mean." i asked. "i didn't even tell you what i had to do."

"doesn't matter." said delphius. "blackmarsh is one of the most dangerous places outside of equestria... only the bravest and strongest adventurers go there... and most don't return." he said.

"i'm sure you can handle it." said abelia.

"thanks." i said. "but who are you guys... you seem like a renowned group of adventurers."

"pshhh... i wish." said maxius.

"where just a local adventuring team. were famous back in our home city but were just dirt everywhere else." said delphius.

"local... does that mean there a city nearby." i asked.

"no..." said abelia. "where on a quest for the king... we've been out in the wilderness for at least 5 days now... and our home city is not on the path to blackmarsh..." she said.

"oh." i said sticking my head down and looking at the fire. we sat there for a moment of awkward silence. we watched as the fire slowly started to die down. i started getting a headache so i rubbed my head with one of my hooves. abelia looked at me.

"you've been through a lot... why don't you go rest..." she said. "we set up an extra tent for you over there." she said pointing to a small tent. "i enchanted it to be like a normal room so it should be very comfortable." i got up and smiled at her.

"thank you..." i said walking over. i said goodnight and they responded with the same. i walked over to the tent and lifted up one of the flaps. i walked in and literally it was about the size of a normal room. there was a bed and a chest and even a fireplace. it was nice and warm in here. there were even walls. except for the front of the room were the flap was.

i walked over and sat down on the bed. it was warm and soft. i noticed a desk against the wall near my bed. it had two scrolls on it. those must be for me. i walked over and pulled out the chair. i sat down and took one of the scrolls. i opened it up and looked at who it was from... it was another not from luna.

the note read: "Dear Crimson Blast. i managed to find a spot through celestia's magic where i can communicate to you without her knowing... but you must not reply or she will figure out. i hope you didn't have too many problems in aldervale... but that would be a lie... i saw. i'm glad you survived. but don't be too confident because those adventurers are right about blackmarsh. it is the epitome of all evil. when the barrier was pushed put up over equestria all of the evil was banished there... the evil has grown so dark that not even the moon dares pass over it... be careful... Regards, Princess Luna.

i read over the note again confused. that stuff happened minutes ago. did she literally just send this letter. oh well. i took my mind off it and didn't let it bother me. i picked up the other note and read over it. it was from my friends.

"Dear Crimson Blast." read the note. "we are glad you're adventure is coming along nicely and we hope you the best of luck. we wish you were here... you just missed another nightmare night... it was plenty of fun and luna was there too. we all miss you and hope that you come back soon... Love twilight, rainbow dash, pinkie pie, applejack, fluttershy, rarity, and thunder rush."

i smiled and rolled the notes back up. i dragged my bags over from next to the bed and leaned them against the chair. i put the scrolls in and took out my own writing supplies. i dipped the quill in the inkwell and started writing. i wrote about how i missed them and that i'm doing fine... i didn't, however, add any details about aldervale... i didn't want to worry them.

i finished writing the note and i rolled it up. i tossed it into the air and it exploded in a green flash of fire and smoke then whisked away through the tent flaps. i reached into the bag and pulled out the rembrandt. before i looked into it my stomach growled. i reached back into the bag and pulled out some food.

i sat at the desk for a half hour and ate my food. i had the other half of a cherry pie and a bottle of milk. after my food was finished i pushed the bottle and pie tin to the side and set the rembrandt on the desk. i looked into it and started to see a bunch of memories float past my face. i had been learning not to get sucked into it too often. so through my own will i pulled myself away and snapped back to reality.

i blinked a few times and put the gem back into my bag. i felt around for the book of answers luna gave me when i felt something else. i pulled out the object and it was the cross that elemental titan gave me. i stared at the glowing white diamond and gold cross. something about it felt... well i'm not sure. it just felt right to be holding it. like there was nothing i had to worry about now.

i placed it down and that feeling went away. i reached back into the bag and pulled out the book of answers. i opened it up to the next unwritten page and i pulled out my quill and ink. i got the quill ready and thought about something. then i wrote down my question.

"how am i supposed to acquire the burning shadow and the blinding shard within blackmarsh." i what i wrote. i waited a few seconds and the answer started to appear. after a few more seconds it was clear.

the answer was. "the blinding shard and burning shadow are the most infamous of all ten elemental gems... achieving them will not be easy... the location is unknown and the temple holding them has been lost to the infinite wisdom of time... but there is a way of finding it..." it said. that's all it said but that doesn't help. i sighed.

there was a low hum and the pages of the book started flipping back and forth rapidly. i scooted back in my chair out of shock. the book lifted into the air and started spinning. and just as soon as it began it stopped. i landed flat on the desk, closed and completely in tact. the cover then lifted up. the pages lifted themselves over a few times until about the middle of the book.

i saw small red dots of ink pop up all over the page. then they turned into dashes and curves. after a while it didn't look like anything just dashed and curves. i waited a few more minutes and to my surprise the dashed started to resemble a picture. after it was done there was a perfect picture in front of me. i looked over it.

it was a picture of a bunch of dead tree's and a lake. it must be the marsh. there was moss and vines everywhere. i noticed however that there was a chunk of the picture missing from the bottom right corner. i looked at it and saw dashes form. but they were smaller. after a minute they didn't finish the picture but it was writing. i read it over.

"Down and back, up and again.

through the marshes of evils den...

only one's heart that is mighty and soul that is strong,

can survive deaths vengeance gone wrong...

hatred so strong it smothers all light,

in a land ruled by evils might...

through the bones of the dead,

where the river runs red...

green stained with time

were the death bells chime.

down in the tomb of the fallen kings,

bares the presence of what power and chaos brings...

they shine together each one it's brother,

they can only fight together."

outside of time they rule forever.

one is forgotten the other was never...

i read over the riddle again and again but it made no sense. i looked back at the picture and it didn't seem to help. this is usually the point where i wonder how i get myself caught up in this crap. i continued to read over the riddle until i heard something. i looked over to the see the tent flap being pushed open. in walked abelia... she smiled at me. i noticed she wasn't wearing her robes anymore.

"oh... hey abelia." i said quickly but non suspiciously closing the notebook. "is there something i can help you with."

"just came over to give this back..." she said. she tossed over a large leather sack of coins... they were my coins. "delphius couldn't help but steal it... there is a lot of money in there." she said. "i apologize for him... but he can't help that he's a gifted thief."

"that's fine... it's good that you gave this back before i realized it was gone." i said. "thank you." she peered over and looked at the stuff on the desk and the bag sitting against the chair. she walked over to the desk.

"you've got a bunch of interesting things..." she said. i gave her a suspicious look. "sorry... i felt a lot of strange energies coming from you're bag so i went through it while you were sleeping..." she blushed and was sweating a bit. "sorry... i promise i didn't take anything."

"that's fine." i said. "i can't complain since you helped me out... it only seems fair."

"alright... well." she said but she stopped when she spotted the rembrandt. "oh my god... is that a rembrandt" she asked.

"yeah it is." i said. "i thought you went through my bag." i asked.

"well." she said blushing. "not all of it... just one pouch." she walked over and picked it up. she sat down on the bed and looked into it. she stared blankly at the gem for a few minutes. i reached over and pulled the gem away from her gaze and she snapped out of it. i placed the gem back on the table.

"careful." i said as she collected her thoughts. "you could get sucked in and before you know it, hours have passed."

"oh... thank you." she said. she let out a yawn. i let out a small chuckle.

"getting tired." i asked.

"yeah..." she said yawning again... i should probably got set up my cot outside." she said walking towards the flap.

"woah wait... you don't have you're tent set up yet" i asked.

"i do... this is my tent." she said. "i gave it up because i knew you needed it more."

"i can't let you sleep outside... it's freezing... you can have you're tent back" i said. "i'll sleep outside... besides i've got my own tent in my bags."

"no really it's fine... besides you'd never be able to set it up this late... it's too windy..."

"well then i'll sleep on the floor... and you get the bed."

"stop really it's fine." she said. she yawned again and her eyes were half closed.

"well i'm sleeping on the floor anyway... so you might as well take the bed." i said. she smiled.

"i knew you were persistent... but not this persistent." she said.

"i can be pretty stubborn at some points." i said. "now you get some rest..." i said. she smiled and walked over. she climbed onto the bed and scooted over to the half against the wall.

"here..." she said. "why don't you sleep with me." she said. i blushed a bit but it hardly showed through my red coat.

"are you sure." i asked.

"yeah it's fine... the beds big enough." she said. she was right... it was at least a queen sized bed. i walked over and hopped into the bed. i turned over in the bed but it wasn't as big as i thought. i turned and was awkwardly close to abelia. she looked at me and i stared back at her.

she smiled and leaned in close to me. she planted a big kiss right on my lips and held it there. i wanted to fight back but i couldn't. she wrapped her hooves around me and i shivered. it had been so long since i've felt the touch of a mare... she was driving me crazy. she broke the kiss and rolled me on top of her.

she stared at her and i stared back. she was blushing and had a lusty smile across her face. i was just blushing.

"it's been so long since i've been with somepony as strong and masculine as you." she said. she reached her hoof down and started stroking my groin until it started to become erect. "maxius and delphius are like family to me so that excludes them."

part of me didn't want to do this but the rest of my body was ready and screaming to go. i was at the point where my hormones were now in control. she stroked my cock a few more times until it was rock hard. she bit her lip and lined my dick up with her wet pussy.

without hesitation i pushed my cock in past her lower lips and further down her pussy. she let out a satisfied moan and bit her lip again. she wrapped her hooves around me and i pressed forward until i was all the way in. i waited a moment and started pulling out. i pulled back slowly until only the tip was in. i waited a few seconds then pushed back in. i pumped in and out of her slowly for a while. after a few minutes i gradually picked up the pace. i let out low grunts and moans while abelia let out cute sex noises.

"oh god yes." she said. she smiled and i continued to pleasure her and myself. i picked up the pace and bucked my hips even faster. i saw as her eyes started to roll into the back on her head. i smiled and bucket even faster. she felt warm and soft on the outside and the inside. i was getting lost in my own ecstasy. soon enough bucking my hips became a mechanical movement and i didn't have to put much effort into it.

i let out a few more grunts and groans and she did too. her tongue was sticking out the side of her mouth. she really must have been telling the truth about not having sex in a while. i felt something warm and wet on the base of my cock. at that same time she let out a loud moan. she must have climaxed. i was still a bit away.

i kept pumping and picked up the pace again. i started bucking faster and faster. i pounded her harder and harder. i pounded her with enough force to push her forward against the bed frame. as her juices caused each thrust to make a wet slapping sound. i was getting closer now. she let out another satisfied moan and juices shot out from her clit again.

she stopped holding onto me and her arms fell by her side. she was completely limp. i continued to thrust and buck my hips. i moved a little faster and pushed a bit harder. i was getting even closer. i looked at her and she had started drooling.

i kept pumping for a few more minutes and i was very close. i couldn't help myself. i pumped harder and harder until i burst. i released and unholy amount of cum into her pussy, which then proceeded to flow out and puddle onto the bed. the let out another moan and her eyes closed. she pulled her tongue back inside her mouth and she was out.

i tried to move but my arms gave in and i fell on top of her. i was too tired to move. i was even too tired to pull my cock out of her. i closed my eyes and started to fall asleep in the afterglow. i feel bad about this. i just hope ash doesn't have to know about this. what she doesn't know won't won't hurt her.

****Right?

-Authors Note: okay so this one came along a bit faster than i let on... but i did promise at least one more chapter so here it is. i might be able to do another one before thanks giving but no promises. to be honest the riddle was the one thing that i had the most fun with. it was a challenge because i had to actually think about what i was writing...(it was not part of the original layout. i incorporated it in to give the sense of foreshadowing and mystery). i did spend time reading other peoples fanfic's as well as the fanfic's of people who follow and comment on my story...after reading a few fanfic's i can say that my... sexual vocabulary and grammar have for everything you sick fucks... kidding, kidding... allot of the stories i read whereat full of it but when there was some it was in great detail. so i hope you enjoyed this chapter... stay shady.-End of Note-


	63. Chapter 63: Just Another Road

i woke up the next morning to the melody of chirping birds. i lifted my head up. everything from last night flooded into my head and i looked down to see i was still laying on top of abelia. she was still fast asleep. i was a bit groggy so i slowly rubbed my head with my hoof.

i looked behind me to see the horrifying sight of last night. my cock was still wedged in between her pussy lips. there was dried cum everywhere. it was on the sheets, our back legs and hooves, stuck in our fur, and my tail was dipped in it. hers was brushed to the side.

i moved my hips back and pulled my cock out of her pussy. i made a wet sliding noise and fell out with a pop. i started to sheath itself back into it's pouch. while i was pulling out my cock abelia had started to let out a few subconscious moans. i quietly and carefully got up and out of the bed. i walked over and grabbed a cloth out of my bag. i used my canteen to wet it and i sat down. i felt disgusting.

i started scrubbing off all the dried on semen. it came out of my fur rather easy but it took me forever to get it out of my tail. when i was sure i was all clean i wet the towel again and put it on the desk for abelia to use when she gets up.

i started packing up my things and got out some food. i got out a whole apple pie so we could both eat. and some apple cider. the second i got everything out i heard abelia moan and yawn a few times. i looked over and she was tossing around in the bed.

she rolled onto her back again and slowly got up. the first thing he was was the mess at the end of the bed. she cringed and i smiled. she looked up from the mess and looked at me. she spread a lusty smile across her face. i couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"well... that might have been the most fun i've had in years." she said. i smiled again.

"glad you liked it." i said grabbing the cloth and wiping my hooves. i tossed it to her and i fell on the bed next to her. "there... clean up." i said. her smile started to weaken.

"is there something wrong." she asked.

"don't worry about it." i said. i paused for a second and she started cleaning herself. i turned around to give her some privacy. i packed up the rest of my shit and slung my bags over my back. i put 20 bits into a small pouch and put it on the desk. i turned around and she was throwing the cloth into the corner. she turned and saw me with my gear.

"you can't be leaving now." she said.

"i have too... i appreciate all of you're help... there's 20 gold pieces in the bag... if the other two are still asleep tell them i said goodbye." and with that i walked through the flap of the tent. i walked outside and stepped onto the wet crunchy snow.

it was snowing heavily. there wasn't any wind though, just the falling snow. i looked to the other two tents and they were closed. they still must be asleep. i walked forward until i reached the end of the campsite. i used my magic to check my direction and se were i need to go. after that i walked across the the other side of the campsite. before i could go further abelia stopped me.

"wait..." she said. i looked back and she walked over. she had something floating next to her. it was some kind of... dagger? "if you're going to leave at least take this." she said. "i was going to give it to my... well, you should take it." she floated the dagger next to me and i picked it up. it weighed almost nothing and it was razor sharp. the blade looked to be made out of emerald.

"thank you." i said. i put the knife in my bag and turned around. i started walking and i looked back. she was standing there watching me leave. i walked forward and checked back every few yards. every time i did she was watching me. eventually i entered through a trail leading into a forest. after a few minutes of walking she disappeared behind the tree's. i turned around and kept walking.

after hours of walking the forest grew thicker and the snow fall even heavier. but according to my map i should be close to the weeping forest that gryphon girl mentioned. i kept walking and walking and i couldn't tell if it was getting dark because the tree's were too thick above me. i eventually noticed the snow start to die down until it was at a complete stop.

i trudged for another hour in the thick snow. as i walked the snow actually started getting lighter and thinner. soon there was none. no more snow. the forest around me became more diverse with different trees and plants now. i could even begin to hear bird's chirping.

i looked up to the canopy and there was almost no light breaking through the tree's. i walked a few more minutes and found a nice place to set up my camp. i put up the tent, started a fire, and rolled out my sleeping bag. i sat down by the fire and took out some writing supplies.

i levitated the quill and paper while i uncorked the inkwell. i wrote my note and sent it. it was nothing special. just telling them where i am and how i'm doing. nothing much as usual. after i finished writing i went and sat down by the fire. i kept by it for a few hours and stared into the rembrandt. when i finally pulled myself from my memories and the gem it was darker outside. the fire had burned out and there was nothing but hot embers glowing between the ashes and stones.

i let out a yawn and crawled into the tent. i wrapped myself into my warm sleeping bag and closed my eyes. i dreamed about a bunch of stuff before i lost control of my own thoughts and slipped into my own crazy world. i can't remember what i dreamed about but it had something to do with those three travelers i met yesterday. before i could make sense of it i woke up. i lifted myself out of the sleeping bag and out of the tent. there was light shining through the tree's and the forest was calm and peaceful.

after a few minutes of stretching my arms and legs and waking up, i grabbed some breakfast. i munched down and threw the leftovers back in my bag. i packed up all my stuff and crammed it all into my bag. i rested my bags over my back and just like that i was off again.

i checked my map and compass and checked that i was heading the right way, luckily i was. according to the map the path i'm on will get me to the weeping forest in two days. i did a bit of math in my head and i've been on this journey for only 1 month and 7 days... i'm making good time. i'm just afraid that when i get to blackmarsh it's going to take me forever to find this place.

i walked down the path some more and took in the sights. there really wasn't much to see. it gets incredibly boring just walking down paths like these. and once again i can't fly for fear of hitting tree's or losing the path in the canopy above. this sucks.

after a few hours of walking my legs were starting to kill. my hooves and my shoulders too. i pulled through it as best as i could and carried on. a harsh wind picked up and it slowed me down. the whispering wind seemed strange though... it was like i could hear voices calling me. i ignored them however and trudged on.

as the wind blew my hooves grew even more tired than before. i could feel a slight pain in my head that quickly grew into a pounding headache. i lost my footing a few times and stumbled over my own hooves. i felt dizzy and slightly nauseous. i took only a few more steps before stopping. as hard as i tried i couldn't carry on. soon the roaring winds pushed me over and onto the ground.

while i fell the world around me grew darker and darker. by the time i hit the ground everything was pitch black. struggled to wake up but my body was too weak. i laid there and eventually passed out.

****dammit not again...

-Authors Note: hey guys... hope you all had a good thanksgiving. i'm going to start working on the story again, but i do have a project for school i need to work on. i did stock up on red bull... so i might be able to pull a few late ones to work on the story a bit... anyway, this chapter was rather short because it was part of the previous chapter but i felt like it was too big as a whole... plus it wasn't finished yet and i wanted to give you guys one last thing before i went on my break... besides i broke Google docs again. i know i could use Microsoft word, but Google docs is much more... Convenient. so i hope you guys like it, keep reading because the best part's coming soon. stay shady guys.-End of Note-


	64. Chapter 64: Opportunity Like No Other

i finally woke up surrounded by darkness. i slowly got up and rubbed my throbbing head. i looked around and as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness i noticed i was in some kind of room. no windows, no doors, no escape. the walls were stone brick walls. i looked up at the ceiling to see there was none. just a never ending void of darkness. i was about to fly up and check it for myself when there was a whisper in my ear.

"_you fool.._." the strange voice seemed to say. i looked around only to see that i was still alone in this room. i tried to fly up again but the voice came back but stronger this time. "you think it's really going to be that easy." it said. it was a mans voice. it was deep and sounded distorted.

"where are you." i said looking around in circles. almost immediately after i said that my head started to throb again and i got dizzy. my eyesight started failing. there was a patch of darkness in front of me and i fell to my knees from fatigue. the black mass swirled and grew larger until it washed away and revealed a tall standing man covered in burning black robes. past his hood i could see two black eyes. his pressence seemed to suc kthe darkness from the room and it lit up without a source of light.

"hello." he said with a smile.

"who are you... where is this light coming from." i asked looking at the white ground. it hurt my eyes to look.

"your not very smart are you." he said.

"what are you." i asked.

"i sucked the darkness from the room. without light there is darkness... without darkness there is light... but without both... there is nothing..."

"what." i asked confused.

"that isn't light you're looking at... it's nothing... you're blind to everything in this room now except for me... that is you're first lesson." he said.

"WHAT... LESSON?" i asked.

"yes... you're going to spend some time here and you're going to learn about the darkness..." i stood there blank for a few seconds but it didn't take long for my brain to process the information.

"wait... so are you the god of the burning shadow." i asked.

"there you go..." he said. "i knew it wouldn't take you long to figure it out..."

"what do you want." i asked.

"i want to tell you something." he said. "my sister... i believe you talked to her... no."

"yeah... i've seen her." i said. "so what."

"so you should be proud... you got to see both of the originals the ones who started it all..." he said. he seemed to be bragging a little.

"wait... i thought there were others... not just light and darkness."

"thats right... but you're wrong too..." he said. let me tell you a story... in the beginning there was nothing... then from the infinite nothingness was birthed light and darkness to put an end to nothingness... from there was put forth the elements of fire, earth, air, and water... the four basic elements." he said. "and from them the elements of nature appeared... there are millions of elements in the world. there are even elements of materials that don't exist in this world yet... but light and darkness were the first..." he stopped.

"what does this have to do with me... what do you want."

"you are the only pony with the soul strong enough to find the elements of light and darkness... only you can hold their power."

"i know that... that's why i'm on this quest." i said. his smile faded and he jumped out at me. he reached out his hand and wrapped it around my neck... he had scaly and rough skin with sharp claws.

"YOU FOOL." he said roaring at me. he held me high into the air. i just squirmed to get free. "you still don't understand the power that is available to you." he said.

"let me go." i managed to choke out but he tightened his grip. i could barely breathe.

"let me tell you something." he said smiling again, but still holding on to my neck. "don't do this quest... take the elements for yourself." he said. with that he dropped me and i fell to the ground. i choked and gasped for air. he continued while i caught my breath. "just take them... and together with the elements you could be the most powerful being in the universe... the ability to shift the world into you're shape, defy physics, create and destroy matter... the ability to give and take life... the power to become a god is available to you... i thought you would like to know." he said smiling and laughing.

"im... i would never do that." i said.

"but would you be so reluctant when the chance is right in front of you... we'll see." he said. he laughed again and burst into a cloud of darkness. the room around me grew darker and darker. i tried to get up and yell my lungs out but i fell to the ground and fainted instead. i closed my eyes and hoped i would wake up in the real world and not in another nightmare...

****then again... is there a difference.

-Authors Note: sorry this is so short guys... been struggling with some things. i'm not going to get back on the story so quickly because of some current... situations that don't need to be discussed... i did feel that this chapter was quite necessary and it's the only one that didn't undergo any change from the original plan. so be patient guys I've got things that need to be wrapped up in the real world... i hope you understand, and i'll see you guys later. stay shady.-End of Note.-


	65. Chapter 65: Rest In Peace?

i'm sure how long i was out but it must have been a while because i felt like i was dreaming forever. all of what i was dreaming didn't seem to make sense. it was just one random thing after another. but everything felt all too real. occasionally while i was dreamin i had visions of walking up and looking at a ceiling or starry night sky. i'm not sure if i was really waking up but every time was different.

i could feel myself rocking and shaking around through the dreams. i watched as my dreams and memories started fading away so reality could come through and pull me back to life. when i finally was able to feel my surroundings and hear, everything was black. i felt weak and in pain. i slowly opened my eyes.

i could hear the sound of wood smacking together and the trotting of hooves. i listened closely and i could also hear the sound of wheels rolling along the ground and squeaking. i felt myself bumping up and down and slowly vibrating. i must be on the move then. i opened my eyes slowly to find myself in a dark room.

the first thing i saw was a type of tarp laying across some acrhes of wood. i looked around and there were boxes and sacks of food everywhere. it didn't take long for me to figure out that i was in wagon. i tried to pick my head up but stopped because of the pain. i looked at myself and noticed that i was covered in blood soaked bandages... i don't remember being hurt. all i did was pass out.

i let out a few moans and groans to see if anypony would come and check on me but nopony came. i turned my head to the side and noticed my bags. at least i wasn't robbed... hopefully. i decided to take this time to cover my surroundings. it was obvious that i was in some kind of wagon. there must be other ponies outside. if i had to guess a stray convoy picked me up and threw me in this wagon.

i laid back and started to get tired again. i closed my eyes and let the noise around me put me to sleep. i didn't do much dreaming but i did a lot of thinking. just asking myself a few questions. after a while i opened my eyes and looked around. the room was still dark but there was enough light to see around. i noticed that there were no more wheels turning or hooves trotting. instead there was a different sound.

i could hear muffled voices and laughter just outside the wagon flaps. i listened closer and i could hear the flickering and the crackling of fire. it must be getting dark now and the convoy has stopped to rest. i laid back and listened to the laughter and the sound of the fire. a cold wind blew the tent flaps open and covered my body. i shivered and rolled up in a ball. i've never wanted to be near a fire so badly in my life.

being in a ball i got to notice that most of my body was covered in blood stained bandages. i still don't remember being attacked. i had them wrapped around my waist, wings, all four legs, and my forehead... as far as i could tell. another breeze blew open the flaps and i shivered again. i curled p in a ball again and i could hear a voice close to the wagon.

"Mystee... go check on the injured stallion... make sure he isn't freezing to death." said a male voice from outside.

"yes father." said a female voice close by. i heard a few trotting hooves and a mare walked into the wagon. i quickly looked her over. she was wearing a lot of jewelery and had on long silk robes. she had a brown coat with a white mane. she looked at me shivering in a ball and she smiled. "ah... you're awake, that's great." she said walking over.

i wanted to say something but i couldn't find the strength. i tried to force out a decent hello but i felt like i was physically unable to say anything. i opened my mouth like i was going to talk but nothing came out. she kept smiling and walked past me to the crates and chest's and sacks of food. she opened up one chest and pulled out a bunch of blankets and covers. she tossed a few over to me and i quickly wrapped myself up in them. she laid out a few more and sat down herself.

"don't worry about being rude." she said. "i didn't expect an answer from you anyway... you know with you're vocal chords missing and all." that sentence made me freak out. i checked my neck and there was a blood stained bandage covering it. "your one tough stallion." she said. "surviving a wolf attack like that..."

i just looked at her with the most confused look i could make. she stopped smiling and looked confused too. i certainly don't remember being attacked by any wolves. i guess that might explain what happened to me. i must have been out for a long time and i guess the wolves saw me as a snack. i'm not sure how i survived or how that didn't wake me up.

"why are you giving me that look." she asked. i just kept giving her that same look hoping she will say something that helps me out. "i don't know what you want... we found you almost two months ago being torn at by wolves. when she said two monthsi almost fainted. i tried to yell so loud that some sound actually did come out. it was just a muffled grunt though. this isn't good. "are you alright." she asked.

i just laid down but didn't answer her. i looked around and my eyes stopped on my bags. i tried to get up on all fours but i felt a snap in my hind leg and i fell to the ground in pain. i yelled out some more but only a few muffled sounds came out.

"oh shit." she said running over. she picked me up and placed me on the ground. she unraveled my broken leg and looked at it. i peaked over at it still breathing heavily from the pain. it really did look like wolves had made a meal out of me... i fucking hate wolves. "oh damn..." she said. "you broke you're fibula..." she said. i'm not an expert on this stuff but i think that's the small bone behind the big one.

i looked back at the wound and there were bite marks and pulled tissue and muscles everywhere. it was rather sickening. she walked away but soon came back with a canteen and some towels. she placed the towels under my leg and slowly poured lukewarm water on my leg... it felt soothing. i felt my muscles relax from the water and so did all of my body.

"mmm... now comes the painful part." she said. before i could register the information she gave me and react she put her hoof on my leg and set the bone back. my eyes narrowed in pain and i yelled again only to still be muffled. i kicked around a bit but calmed down after a few seconds. "now that wasn't so bad."

i wiped the tears from my eyes and focused myself back on my bag. i slowly started to try and crawl my way over to it. i'm sure that i've got something in there that can help me... i almost always do. i keep so much shit in that bag there's no way that i couldn't have something.

"what are you doing." said the mare trying to stop me. she kept pulling me back and i kept resisting but she was obviously winning the fight. "you need to rest." she said. i tried to push her away and i flapped my wings to distract her. she managed to pull me back though. i tried again but she held me and kept me from reaching for my bag. "what are you doing... STOP." she yelled.

as soon as she said that my eyes glowed black and i used my shadow powers to raise a tentacle over and bring my bag over to me. she say this and dropped me immediately. she quickly backed away from me in fear and huddled against some crates and boxes in the corner. i dropped the bag in front of me and opened it up. my eyes stopped glowing black by this time and i was normal again.

i started rummaging through it while the other mare was completely silent. all i could hear were the noises outside and the sound of various object being shuffled around in my bag. i pulled out several things looking for something. food...nope, rembrandt...nope, map...nope, book...nope. i looked through my bag putting aside various objects and supplies. the mare just looked at me with both fear and curiosity... i could also sense a bit of remorse.

after digging for a while i finally pulled out a glass bottle with red liquid in it. it's a good thing i keep these with me for when i can't heal myself. which is one thing that i've figured out how to do. i can heal myself of almost any wound but only after a certain point in time... if not then it heals on it's own... still my regular healing is pretty fast... but i was severely damaged. and i probably haven't been given much nutrients or water so my body has nothing to heal itself with.

i popped the cork of the bottle and the smell of the potion filled the air. i put the bottle to my lips and chugged the whole thing. not sure if that was smart but it's a health potion... and i was pretty damaged. after i swallowed the liquid i shivered from the bitter taste and put the cork back on the empty bottle them back into my bag. i looked over to the mare who seems to have calmed down now.

"if i had to guess... that was a health potion right." she asked. i nodded my head and looked at her. she quickly burst out laughing. i just looked at her curiously. "that's too funny." she said. i just looked at her confusingly. "you see i thought that an adventurer like you would have to be carrying some kind of health potion on you... so i told them to check the bags but they told me no... shows them." she said laughing some more... that's irony for you... now that i think about it... it is pretty funny. i tried to laugh too but all i could manage to do was smile and look like i was laughing.

she walked down from the pile of boxes she was perched on and joined me in the mess of blankets and covers. she walked up close to me and laid down in front of me facing me. i was getting a bit tired and light headed. i nudged my bags away and fell down onto my side and looked at her.

"you should get some rest... you'll probably be fine in the morning." she said. she patted me on the head and curled up in the covers facing away from me. i curled up too and closed my eyes. i smiled and started to dream. i eventually woke up the next day in the waggon. i opened my eyes and looked around. i noticed that the mare from before was gone. i instantly noticed that i was in considerably less pain than before.

i rolled over and confidently lifted myself up on all four legs. i got about halfway up when an intense pain and physical weakness sent me crashing back down to the floor. i let out a yell of pain and a grunt. my eyes widened as i realized i could speak now. i started unraveling the bandages on my legs. i prepared myself for the worst but what i saw was much different... they were fine.

the skin is patched up and the fur grew back. i unwrapped my other legs to see they were fine too. i took off all my bandages and threw them to the side. i managed to crawl over and sit up. i could feel the wagon moving across the ground. one of the wheels however must have caught a rock or something because there was a huge bum which sent me right into the wall. i hit my head with a thud and fell to the ground. i laid there in a haze, dazed and confused. i could feel the carriage stop.

"Mystee go check on that stallion again... see if he's alright." said a familiar voice. i recognized it as the voice from last night.

"yes father." said another recognizable voice. soon after the mare from last night trotted into the wagon. she stepped in and the wagon slowly started moving again. i take it her name is Mystee. she looked around and saw the bandages and my bag before her eyes wandered over and caught me. she quickly rushed over and sat down next to me. "are you alright." she asked.

"yeah i'm fine..." i said sitting up and rubbing my head. she smiled.

"hey you can talk now." she said. " great now we can introduce you to the family later." she said. "we can't do it now though because we have to keep moving all day if we ever want to get to Oasis as soon as possible." she likes to talk almost as much as pinkie... and she's talking about things i don't even know about.

"heh... yeah." i said. without thinking i tried standing up again only to grow weak and fall down in a lapse of pain. i yelled out again and mystee shot right up.

"aah... what's wrong." she asked.

"gaah..." i said on the ground gritting my teeth. "i think there's something wrong with my legs." i said.

"here let me see." she said. she knelt down next to me and i held out all four hooves. she pressed down on my front left hoof it hurt a lot. "oh i see now... that health potion you drank was defective." she said.

"what..." i asked confused.

"yeah i've seen this before..." she said. "it's an imbalance in the serum... instead of just healing regularly it causes you're body to cannibalize itself. it takes a lot of tissue and protein from the wounded areas. she pressed on my leg again and her hoof sank in like there was nothing beneath the skin. my eyes narrowed at the sight. "you're missing a few muscles in you're legs now i'm going to guess... wait here." she said. before i could speak up she bolted out of the wagon and outside.

i laid there in silence. it seemed like a while that she was gone but it was probably shorter than i thought. soon enough she walked back inside the wagon. she had i brightly glowing blue elixir in her mouth. she walked over and placed it down next to me. i looked at it with curiosity.

"this will fix you right up..." she said picking up the bottle again. she pulled the cork out and held the bottle. "just hang on..." she said. she walked over to the crates and fished around inside a box. she pulled out a covered bowl. it had a sticker on it with some kind of weird symbol. she walked over and pulled the lid off. it was a bowl of soup. i was confused.

she set the elixir on a crate and stood by the bowl of soup. she raised one hoof up and stomped it on the floor of the wagon. the sticker on the bowl started to glow a faint red. i watched in awe as the bowl of soup started to warm up and steam. she heated it up... but how? i was probably more confused now than i ever have been in my life.

"wait...how... the soup... uuuhhh." i said unable to find words appropriate for the situation. she just smiled and giggled. she grabbed the blue elixir and poured a small bit of it into the soup. she put the cork on the bottle of blue liquid and put it away in a chest. she walked over and sat me up against the wall of the wagon. she picked up the bowl of soup with the elixir in it and brought it over to me face.

"here drink this..." she said. "it'll fix you.". with what i just saw i have no doubt this will do something. i put my lips to the bowl and started to drink the soup. it was hot but i didn't care. i finished off the bowl and she set it to the side. i just sat there and stared off into space trying to compile all this new information in my head. "you're funny..." she said laughing. "i think my dad will like you... hell he likes everypony."

"what was that..." i asked turning my head to look at her.

"just some carrot soup..." she said with a smile. "my grandmother's specialty." she smiled and giggled... she was having fun with this.

"i meant with the sticker... how did you heat up that soup without magic." i asked... "and what was that blue potion." i asked. she just rolled her eyes and sat back against the wagon wall again.

"well you see... it was magic... gypsy magic." she said. before she could say anything else i stopped her.

"you're telling me i was picked up by a band of wandering gypsies?"

"pretty much..."

"so are you..." i said. i paused and let her fill in the blanks.

"yep... i'm mystee the gypsy" she said. that would explain her clothes... and the size of the wagon which i'm now just noticing is very large. she doesn't exactly act like the gypsy type. "so what are you... mr. shadow summoner... uh... guy." she said. that made me laugh a bit inside. on the outside however i was very serious.

"answer my other question first and then i'll tell you." i said.

"you know it's not wise to haggle with a gypsy..." she said smiling. i stared at her with my cold steely eyes. she just stared at me smiling until she started laughing again. "but i think you'd be fine." she said. "it was a special gypsy healing remedy designed to heal any non lethal wounds... you'll be better before night." she said. "now... tell me you're secrets."

"now that's a bit of a problem..." i said. she seemed confused.

"why's that..." she asked.

"well you see i have a lot of secrets but you've only shared two of yours... so you only get to know two of mine." i said. she looked at me and smiled harder.

"i like you." she said. "you know how to get shit done... which is hard to say for most ponies in this world... fine then... fair enough." she said. i smiled. " alright... so what's with the shadow things... you know, the ones you used yesterday to get you're bag..." she asked.

"well that's a bit of a story... i'll skip to the details..." i said. i took a small pause and a deep breath. "you see i've got the soul of a demon trapped in my body... i use this demon to control the elements of darkness... simple." i said.

"ohhh... i know what you are now." she said. my expression changed from confident to now confused and curious.

"you... you do?" i asked.

"yeah you're one of those shadowmancers that my dad's book's talks about... that's so cool... i never thought i'd get to see one." she said. she started looking me over with inept concentration and focus. "you have to show me you're demon form..." she asked.

"my demon form..." i asked questionably confused as to what she's asking.

"yeah... you must know. when you go all creepy and shadowy... or whatever it's called." she said. i stared at her while she kept looking over my body. she's an interesting card. she acts and talks like she's young and nieve. but she has to be in her late 20's and she knows a lot based on what i can tell. i smiled.

"sorry..." i said. "but that's not something i like to just show off." she stopped looking me over and her expression changed from excited to disappointed. she hung her head slightly.

"aww..." she said. "that sucks... but i can't make you do it... probably since you could destroy everypony in the entire convoy." she said. that was a bit of an unexpected answer.

"yeah sure..." i said cautiously. "so... you still get to ask me one more thing." i said.

"oh right... sorry i got caught up in the excitement..." she said. she put her hoof to her chin and started to think. "what to ask."

"really... you have to think about this... you're not curious about what i was doing in the woods... or how i survived being eaten by wolves." i asked trying to spark ideas.

"well no..." she said. i was a bit surprised. "knowing that you're a shadowmancer explains how you survived the wolves... it also answers many other questions... and frankly i don't care what you were doing in the woods... you're probably going somewhere." she said.

"well... you're definitely smarter than i anticipated." i said. she looked at me with concern.

"yeah thanks..." she said sarcastically. she kept thinking. she seemed like she had gotten her idea and was about to ask but before she could speak another pony walked into the covered wagon. he was an older pony. he had light brown and black robes on with decorative designs. he had long white hair with a mustache. he had a scar over one eye and wrinkles on his face. i looked at him and he had his eyes closed.

"hello there mystee..." he said. he had a caring but firm voice. he reminded me of my grandfather when i was little. "how is our guest." he asked.

"hello dad... he's fine. we were just talking... getting to know each other."

"i'm glad to hear it." he said. he, like his daughter mystee, was just a regular earth pony... he's probably a gypsy too. "i hope you're feeling better..." he said looking right at me. he still had his eyes closed. he walked around and put a hoof on his daughter. the fact that his eyes are closed is starting to scare me... how can he see. "mystee has told me about you... it's good to see that an old type of magic is still alive today... and a powerful one at that."

"he is just like you thought dad." said mystee. "he's a shadowmancer."

"mmm." he said. "i knew you were different from the second we found you... i wasn't sure of it but when my wife pronounced you still living i knew you were strong."

"thank you for helping me... i can't thank you enough, and i can repay you for the trouble." i said.

"my fellow gypsies have seen much trouble... this was nothing." he said. i noticed mystee's expression change to a deep remorseful look. he stared at the ground and her father patted her on the shoulder.

"did... did something happen." i asked. mystee closed her eyes and ran out of the wagon... i could sense a great deal of sadness in her. "was it something i said." i asked her father.

"no it wasn't.. you didn't know but i might as well tell you." he said walking over. he sat down to get on my level. "you see our gypsy encampment was destroyed months ago by raiders and mercenaries."

"i'm sorry to hear that." i said. "is that why you're traveling."

"yes..." he said. were traveling to a place called oasis just across the flaming desert... luckily we made it just in time for the winter season and the flames don't reach down this far... just the ashes." he said. i guess it really does rain fire in the flaming desert.

"wait... did you say the winter season... how long have you been in this desert." i asked.

"we've been traversing the desert for almost three weeks now... we found you almost two months ago." he said. that shot right at my heart. i held my head down in defeat and disappointment. "is there something wrong traveler." he asked.

"i should have been back by now... i've let them all down." i said keeping my head sunk low.

"who have you let down..." asked mystee's father.

"everypony..." i swallowed my guilt for a minute to explain. "i was sent on a quest to blackmarsh to find something. it was supposed to be a four month trip there and back but if what you tell me is right then that means i've been gone for five months and i'm not even there." i said growing angry at myself. i started to raise my voice.

"calm down stranger... here take these." he said. he reached into his robe and pulled out a pile of folded up notes... i quickly grabbed them and tried undoing the string holding them together.

"where did you get these." i asked.

"we would check on you every morning at 8:00... whenever we did a scroll would be right next to you... this stopped happening about 2 weeks ago..." he said. i picked up one letter and started reading it vigorously while he talked. "we didn't read any of them out of respect... i'll leave you to it." he said. he got up and walked out of the wagon. i started shuffling and reading every single note.

they were listed i order by date from the top... that makes it easier on me. i read the first one. it was all of them checking in on me. then the next one was the same, and the next one and the next three after that. i read the next letter and it it was about my friends worrying since i hadn't sent them any responses yet. the next few were asking what was wrong why i wasn't writing. then the next one was written sloppily but still it was twilight's writing. it read.

"Crimson please write back... you're starting to scare dash and i'm getting worried too. it's been almost three months... did you get the gems yet... please respond this time."

i read a few more. each one was worse than the other.

"Crimson please write back... i'm scared now... dash is freaking out and scootaloo is acting up... if something has happened you need to come home now."

i read more and more each one more hastily written than the last. some of them were labeled with the same date. it hurt so bad that it was actually causing me physical pain. i stopped when i came across one note that had a few wet stains on it. i quickly identified the stains as tear drops. i read the note.

"Crimson please... please write back. i can't take this. dash can't sleep neither can I... the princess won't tell us anything and scootaloo has run away... the townsfolk got word about the situation and most have presumed you dead... please, please, please crimson... come home."

i crushed up the note and threw it across the wagon. it was too painful. there was one more note. i was almost afraid to see what it said. i opened it up and forced my sorrow back down so i could finish this last note. it was neatly written but covered in tear stains. the date was labeled a few weeks after the last.

"crimson were not sure what happened but everypony is sure that you're dead now... we all hope this isn't true though... were not sure if you've just ran away or that you are dead... but if you can read this than i hope you're alright... if you did run away i hope you know how many hearts you've broken. scootaloo was eventually found but she's in denial. so is dash... officially you're dead... you've got you're own grave and everything. the town even went all out and built a statue of you at the cemetery... derek left ponyville determined that there's nothing left for him here... we love you crimson... Rest In Peace.

that's how the note ended. my heart broke so hard that you could hear it. the pieces then sank down into my stomach. i was dead... there was no hope. i could feel the tears running down my face but i wasn't crying. i slowly tipped over and fell to the ground. my head hit with a hard thud on the ground. i stared forward into nothingness with narrow eyes and a shattered heart.

my pain and misery soon turned into hatred and rage. but it was more than that. it was a new kind of determination... unlike any that i've had before. it's the kind of determination driven by hatred and anger... but also sadness and regret. i slowly rolled over and tried to lift myself up on my legs. i got a few inches off the ground when i got too tired and i was overwhelmed with pain... but that wasn't going to stop me. i lifted myself up some more and started groaning and gritting my teeth in pain.

i finally got up on all fours and let out a fierce yell. the wagon flap opened up and mystee walked in and saw me. she rushed over. i started walking forward but every step was another wave of incredible pain that only got worse every step.

"What the fuck are you doing." she said yelling at me. "you don't have any muscles in you're legs you can't walk... you need to rest before you kill yourself." she said. she grabbed onto me and tried to pull me down but i just dragged her with me. i took a few more steps to my bag on the opposite side of the waggon.

i let out another roar and grit my teeth. i could feel my teeth sharpen into fangs and the black symbols on my body started glowing and so did my eyes. i tried to lift my wings up to fly over there but i found it impossible to move my wings. so i just kept walking forward. i let out more growls and moans as i took more and more steps.

i needed to get to my bag and try and write something back. they need to know what happened that i'm alive. i just need to let them know. i took a few more steps but the pain was incredible. my from hoof slipped over a blanket and i fell to the ground. the fall to the ground seemed to last forever. it's like it was the worst failure of my life. i hit the ground and struggled to get back up but mystee was on top of me keeping me down. i settled down and laid there. i was out of energy.

"what were you thinking you fucking idiot..." mystee yelled. at this point mystee's father and one other pony entered the waggon. mystee continued to yell and scold me. i just laid there defeated and let her words sink in and push me towards a deeper state of depression and anxiety. once again though the same feeling of determination flared up inside me.

using my magic i called up a few shadows to pick up mystee off of me. i easily placed her down away from me. i called over a few shadows and made my armour. i used my powers to control my armour so it acted as a crutch. i slowly walked over to my bag and lifted it up.

"dad." said mystee... "you need to stop him before he kills himself." mystee's dad just stared at me and was completely unresponsive. "dad please..." she said.

"i've never seen such determination in a pony before in my life... this is not our fight mystee... it's his." mystee just watched.

i rummaged through my bag until i found the quill and inkwell. i picked up the scrolls and popped the cap of the inkwell. i dipped the quill in and put it to the paper i quickly wrote something... but there were no words. i dipped the quill again and tried again... still nothing... in a spike of rage i stabbed the quill through the paper. i looked at it and noticed there was no ink on it. i looked at the inkwell.

my eyes narrowed and the dust that was already left of my heart probably disintegrated inside my chest. the inkwell had dried up... i hadn't used it in so long that it dried up... it's almost funny. i dropped everything and my shadows wore off. i just stood there somehow. the quill and paper fluttered to the ground while the inkwell fell and shattered against the floor.

i just stood there for a while. i was surprised that i was standing at all. my legs were still in incredible pain. i just stared off into space and wallowed in defeat...again.

"are you alright stranger." asked the pony that came in with mystee's father.

"yeah are you alright..." asked mystee.

"we have other inkwells traveller... we can get you one." said mystee's father.

"no..." i said. "that won't work... that ink was magically imbued to these scrolls... it was the only thing that could get them to my friends... but now i can't even give them anything..." i said.

"why do you need to write to you're friends anyway..." asked mystee. she stared at me but i just stared forward. i couldn't answer her. she looked around and noticed the letters on the ground. every emotion i was feeling passed through me at once and i felt myself getting dizzy. i fell to the floor in a daze. i head hid the wooden floor with a loud bang and everything went black.

i was surrounded in darkness. i could see parts of my life in ponyville flashing past my eyes. all the good memories and even the bad ones. but the bad memories are what make the good memories even more special. i can't believe i was out for that long... i'm still determined to see this quest through... but i'm scared to see how much ponyville has changed when i get back. who would have thought that my biggest fear would be my family and friends.

i'm so sorry dash, i'm sorry twilight, and derek, and scootaloo. i'm sorry to everyone who is ruined because i made a stupid and rash decision... i swear to god i'm going to make this right some way... i always do make it right. if i'm going to get this done i need to be serious. and i'm sorry to those who i hurt...i'll make it right...i swear.

****Forgive me

-Authors Note: alright back on the wagon... gonna keep this short so if you have any questions about the story so far just PM me and i'll answer them... keep reading, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	66. Chapter 66: All Scars Heal With Time

it wasn't long after i blacked out that i soon started to come back into consciousness. i woke up to familiar sounds and familiar faces. i saw mystee and her father watching over me as my body started to wind up and move. my legs were killing me and i was sweating heavily. remembering my previous predicament i was washed over with grief but i didn't cry out. instead i stayed silent. mystee and her father looked at me but i turned my head to avoid them.

"you caused quite a scene there." said mystee... "but i can't blame you... i've felt that way before... we both read the letters." she said. i just kept my head turned and avoided her. "i'm sorry..." she said. "i just wish i knew."

"mystee you take care of him... i need to go help you're mother." said her father.

"yes father." said mystee. her father then stood up and walked out of the wagon. as he left we were greeted with an awkward silence. i tried to cheer myself up... it worked to a degree but not enough. finally mystee broke the silence. "so you're legs have healed... you can walk, but they'll be sore for a few days." she said.

i didn't reply to her. i just stared off away from her into the distance. after a while i finally got up. she smiled at me and watched me. i walked over to my bag slunked over with a sullen look on my face. i reached in and looked around. i finally grabbed a flask of southern comfort and took a swig. i watched as mystee's face turned from a smile to a look of disgust and pity.

"what is you're problem." she said standing up and confronting me. i didn't reply. "what has gotten into you... you're acting like this is the end...i've never seen a pony over react as bad as this." she said. she slapped me across the face and i let her.

"you read the letters right." i said after a pause.

"yeah... so they think you're dead... go home and prove them wrong." mystee said. she was getting very angry with me. "it's not the end... i don't care how powerful you are... you're the weakest stallion i've seen." she said. that spiked a bit of anger in me.

"and you know best." i said yelling at her. she jumped back in surprise. i dropped the flask to stand high on all fours. "their hearts are already broken... i'm dead to them... LITERALLY." i said shouting. "even if i do go home it wouldn't help... ponies change... they move on... and i've already given them plenty of time to move on..." i yelled gritting my teeth.

"WELL AT LEAST YOU CAN GO BACK HOME." she yelled flaring with both anger and sadness. i was drawn back by her abruptness and the tears in her eyes. "I CAN'T... i don't have a home... that's gone... and that's not going to change. but who cares if you're home changes." she said almost crying but trying her best to yell as loud as she can at me. "at least you can go home..." after that she broke down and ran out of the wagon.

"no mystee wait..." i said. i chased after her. i passed through the wagon flaps. i was almost caught up with her but the sun from outside flashed into my eyes and i must have missed a step. i fell and tumbled to the ground. i stood up and rubbed my eyes. my vision finally cleared and i could see things clearly. and boy did i see things.

we were in the middle of a desert with a fire red sky. there were ashes falling from the sky. it was like snow. they hit the ground and mixed into the sand making it black. the caravan train was huge. it stretched as far as i could see. ponies pulling carriages and wagons. all of them looked the same. same clothes and faces. there were a lot of ponies here... i would go as far as to call it a kind of migration.

"mystee... mystee." i said calling her name. i couldn't see her anywhere. she just disappeared. suddenly another stallion walked up behind me and caught my attention. i looked over at him. he was smaller than me and looked rather young. he had grey fur with a teel mane and dark brown eyes. he was wearing some kind of cloth suit. it had a lot of pockets.

"excuse me but you're the stallion that we picked up aren't you." he said. it took me a minute to hear him because i was still looking him over. i was also confused as to what he wants with me.

"uhm... yes..." i said.

"good to see you have healed." he said. he sounded very young. in his teens if i had to guess. "i got to check on you a few times but i've been much too busy to see you otherwise." he said.

"i'm sorry... but who are you." i asked.

"oh pardon me." he said. he was very polite. "i'm jafiri..." he said holding out his hoof. i stuck out mine and we shook. "i'm mystee's younger brother... i'm also a trader and scavenger for my family." he said. we stood there as the wagons and carts started to pass us by.

"it's good to meet you." i replied.

"we should get moving... it's not good to just stay still while the caravan is moving..." he said. he rushed over to the covered wagon i used to be in and i rushed over to greet him.

"so where are you all heading to..." i asked.

"to a place called oasis..." he said. "theres another gypsy camp there that has accepted us."

"i don't know about this place oasis." i said. "can you show me on a map." i asked.

"sure lets go inside where it's easier." he said. we both walked into the covered wagon. i sat down and he grabbed a map. he walked over and spread it out over the ground. "so we're here in the desert." he said pointing to the desert. "and oasis is here." he said pointing to a large green area on the other side of the desert.

on the map oasis is to the west of the desert. i was just south of the desert according to the trail they had drawn on the map. blackmarsh is to the north east... so were almost going in the wrong direction.

"that's not good." i said. "i need to be here." i said pointing to blackmarsh on the map.

"that's an interesting location." said a familiar voice from behind me. i looked back to see mystee's dad standing there walking towards us.

"oh... hello sir." i said.

"please stranger call me jericco..." he said smiling.

"and you can call me crimson." i said in reply.

"alright crimson." said jafiri. "what the hell do you need to be in blackmarsh for... that place is a festering pit of darkness and horror." he said. that made everything 'so much better'.

"i'm looking for a lost temple... i'd rather keep the details to myself." i said.

"well i apologize for taking you off you're own path" said jericco

"thats alright..." i said. "you've already saved me... i can't always have it go the way i want it..." i said. "the world wouldn't stand for that.". jericco let out a small laugh at the joke. he walked over and looked over the map with us.

"if i can suggest something..." said jafiri. he pointed to a large green patch close to the edge of the desert. "this is a small oasis just a week from here. it could act as a waypoint between here and the weeping forest then into blackmarsh."

"no offense son, but that wouldn't be a smart solution." said jericco. "but, that oasis is surrounded by the festering sands."

"what are festering sands." i asked.

"crap i forgot that." said jafiri. "that is the hottest place in the whole desert. the sand there is so hot it often melts and hardens into sharp pieces of glass... plus it always rains fire there... even in the winter season." he said. "it's physically impossible to cross without being made of lead."

we all looked over the map for other solutions. i looked over at oasis and noticed a large grey area next to it that connects with blackmarsh. it looked for a title but there was no name or mapping to it. i put my hoof on it.

"what is this place." i asked.

"no..." said jafiri. "you don't want to go that way."

"why not." i asked. "what's there."

"nothing." said jericco. i looked over at him with intense curiosity. he just looked at the map. "nopony has been able to go in and come out with stories to tell of the place." he said.

"why not." i asked. "because they don't come back at all."

"no they come back... they return perfectly fine and healthy... but different." said jericco. before i could reply jafiri but in.

"everypony that comes back from there has complete memory loss..." he said.

"what they just forget they were there." i asked.

"they forget they were there... forget who they are, what time it is, everything... completely like everything is new to them..." he said. i looked at the map with deep concentration. we sat there in silence for a while. jericco and jafiri looked over the map but i stared right at the grey area.

the room was covered in silence and i started to think to myself. i stared hard at the map. i stared at it like i was expecting it to tell me what to do... but that's my job. i started thinking about what mystee said. her words repeated in my head and sank into my heart as well. once again sorrow and hatred had blinded me... but i can see now.

"i guess it's my only option." i said still staring at the map and breaking the silence.

"wait... you can't be serious." said jafiri.

"i'm always serious." i said staring at him. he just looked back and smiled.

"ha... sis was right... you're eyes are cold as steel... but inside them burns the hottest fire." he said laughing a bit. jafiri got up and walked away. "you keep the map..." he said. "there are others just like it." he walked over to a chest and pulled out a bottle of what looked like scotch.

jericco smiled and left without saying anything. i rolled up the map and put it in my bag. it would help since its bigger and much more detailed than my other map. as i started to put my bags away i still had my eyes focused and determined. my stomach then growled and filled the wagon... then all that focus and determination went away. jafiri laughed.

"i am the trader..." he said. "i can sell you some food if you want."

"it's fine i've got my own." i said. i opened the right pouch of my bag to get some food.

"no you don't." he said. i looked into the pouch and it was empty. i was shocked a bit. "i guess you weren't enough of a meal for those wolves." he said laughing. he wasn't lying to me. i could tell from the way the right side of the bag was torn and that there were large crumbs and stains from the food. once again my stomach growled.

"what food do you have for sale." i asked.

"everything in this trunk." he said slapping a large wooden trunk. it had one of those stickers on it with the symbol. the symbol was faintly glowing blue. i walked over to him. "pick out what you want and i'll sum up the total." i opened the trunk and was blasted with a rush of cool air. i guessed that the sticker on it would be some kind of cooling spell. there was all sorts of food and drinks.

"so who exactly do you trade with." i asked while i was grabbing an assortment of foods and beverages.

"just the other caravans and merchants in passing towns." he said.

"you trade with each other."

"yeah... we trade for money or if you have no money you can pull a wagon for an hour or so or trade for an item of the same value." he said. it seemed like a very simplistic and sturdy system of trade. after a while i pilled up a bunch of food from the trunk and laid it on the floor. there was quite a bit of food.

"alright..." i said walking to my bag and grabbing my cloth pouch full of money. "this should be enough food for now and then the trip after..." i said. jafiri smiled.

"so lets see..." he said trailing off and mumbling a few numbers and the names of the food. "... so that would be 1 silver and 32 copper." he said.

"well i don't have any silver or copper..." i said. "how's gold do." i asked tossing him a few pieces of gold. he froze there and didn't even bother catching the gold as it flew into his face and landed on the floor. he just stared at it. "hey..." i said walking over... are you alright." i waved my hand in front of him and pushed him a bit... i think i might have broken him."

almost immediately he sprung to life and tackled me to the ground. i thought he was attacking me so i struggled but i quickly noticed that he wasn't trying to kill me. he was hugging me and laughing. he sprung up and decided to do a little dance of his own.

"you alright there." i asked smiling. i forgot about this type of monetary system. it's the same as the one in indigo city from a while back. apparently gold is worth a lot and i've got a lot of it. funny how equestria's monetary system is so much more different than others. now that i think of it... equestria must be like the richest country in the world. jafiri just kept dancing. "are you okay." i asked.

"okay?...okay?... i'm more than okay... you just made us rich." he said. he pranced over and picked up the bits. i had tossed him about five. "you could have bought the whole caravan with this."

"what's all the commotion in here." said jericco walking into the waggon. there was a mare with her. it wasn't mystee but she looked just like her in almost every way... just a bit older though.

"father... mother." jafiri said running over to them with the gold in his hoof. "were rich... look." he said holding out the money. that mare must be mystee's mother then if i heard correctly. not surprising.

"oh my..." said mystee's mother.

"where... where did you get this." asked jericco. he and his wife both looked at the gold with shock and awe. for the first time ever i saw jericcos eyes open up. they frightened me. they were hazy and light blue... he couldn't... he couldn't be blind could he? before i could continue to think about it they all came over and hugged me tight... good to know i can still help ponies.

"boy you've made this family not only rich but very happy and grateful." said jericco. he smiled. i looked to see his wife who looked at me with her warm blue eyes. she smiled too and they let me down.

"come jafiri." said his mother. "we must tell our friends and mystee." she said. jafiri unquestionably ran over to his mother and they exited the wagon leaving me with jericco. he looked at me and smiled. i walked over to the food i had just bought and started putting it in my bag.

"we cannot thank you enough." he said.

"your welcome to more." i said. "back at my home i'm very wealthy... i could replace the ground of my home with gold." i said.

"no...no... i think that's enough for today." jericco said. "i don't think my heart can take much more." he said.

"i don't believe that." i said sternly. i was trying to push this guy for some information about him but trying to keep the mood happy. "you seem stronger than you look."

"hmmm." he said. "well i'm not physically strong as my body suggests, but mentally i am very powerful." he said. "is that what you wanted to know." that shocked me a bit that he knew what i was thinking. i stood there silent for a minute while he smiled... what is this old man. he started laughing. "it's quite alright crimson... you can ask me any question... i'm not a spiteful or nasty pony."

"alright." i said lightening up a bit. "there is one thing that has been bothering me... you're eyes... are you blind." i asked.

"i get that question a lot." he said. "it is true that i cannot see in this world. but i can see into other worlds... and in other worlds i can see." he said. he smiled at me and left the wagon. what did he mean by that. i stood there in silence for a while and thought about it. suddenly the silence was broken by the growling of my stomach.

i got so caught up in everything that i forgot i was hungry. i cleared my head and grabbed some food from my bag and had a quick bite to eat. i threw away the trash back into my bag and closed it up. i should probably get outside for some fresh air and to start walking so i can get my legs adjusted to walking... don't want to get too lazy.

i walked outside and the sun was setting over large sand dunes in the distance. i stepped down from the waggon and started walking with it. the sand was warm and felt nice on my aching hooves. it was hot outside but a nice cool breeze swept over the convoy to keep the atmosphere at an almost perfect temperature.

after a few hours of walking i was getting used to being back on my hooves again but my legs were aching. the temperature was starting to drop and the ash falling from the sky stopped. the sky turned a deep red and purplish color. there were a few clouds but they weren't very big. i kept walking with the caravan until it stopped. all the caravans stopped. i stood by the waggon and observed what was happening.

a bunch of ponies started setting down benches and a pile of logs. a few ponies started walking over to the campfire. i saw jericco and his wife. i also saw mystee and jafiri. mystee looked at me and i looked back at her. her eyes were rashy and red. she must have been crying for a while. i smiled at her but she looked away which made my smile fade.

i watched an unfamiliar pony drag a bunch of logs to the fire pit. they were tied together with rope. he undid the rope and started putting the logs in the pit. the sky was getting darker and i could see small flickers of light were other caravans we're making their own fires. finally the pony was done putting the logs down and put the spares aside.

i watched as mystee walked up to the fire pit. she had one of those sticker things in her mouth. but this one seemed like just a regular piece of paper. she placed it down on top of the logs and backed up. she looked back at her mother and her mom smiled at her. it was like she was giving her a look of encouragement.

mystee stared at the paper laying atop the logs of the fire pit. she stomped her front hooves into the sand. there was an almost spark in her eye. her eyes flashed. there was more to it though. i looked in her eyes and it was like i understood the process of what she was doing. i could almost read how the magic was working... like explaining it like science.

the air around the paper and the logs becomes dry and decompresses. then she creates a spark that ignites the oxygen and literally sets the air on fire. and just like that it did. the paper sparked once and the whole thing went up in flames. this girl just made a miniature H.I.T. explosive (high intense thermobaric explosive) with nothing but magic and science... it was all there. it wasn't like the magic me and twilight can do... there was a formula for this. come to think of it there had to be... they're earth ponies, not unicorns. they don't have their own magic... now i want to know how she decompressed the air and made the spark.

the ponies around mystee clapped and she smiled. she walked over and hugged her mother. the others sat down and jericco invited me to sit down. the only open seat was next to him and mystee. i sat down and mystee looked away from me. i turned from her and looked at jericco who might have been trying to get my attention.

"it's good that we can sit down together now with you and introduce ourselves in a better fashion." he said. "i'm sure you're already well introduced with both my son jafiri and my daughter mystee... and i'm sure you know who i am." he said smiling.

"can i assume this is you're wife." i said gesturing to the mare sitting next to him. he laughed a bit and his wife smiled.

"yes this is my wife mirella." he said. she looked at me and i looked at her. we both smiled.

"it's good to meet you on more basic terms." she said. she had a sweet and calm voice... but it was enticing and alluring at the same time. i just smiled.

"it's a pleasure to meet you too..." i said. i looked over to the other stallion who i hadn't seen before. he was quite the stallion too. he was tall and strapping. he had light brown fur with black hair and rugged facial hair. he was upright and strapping too. i then noticed a weapon on his back. he was wearing a brown tunic and white undershirt.

"oh that's ezekiel." said mirella. he looked at me and smiled. he had kind eyes but there was rage and vengeance in them hiding behind the burning fires of determination. he seemed to me like the kind of type who has a mission in life. "he's not a relative but a friend of the family."

"oh..." i said looking back over to ezekiel. "so you help out this family a lot." i asked. he smiled some more.

"they're like family to me..." his smile faded. "more now that those damned raiders took my real family from me." he said. he hung his head. i did too as memories of my old family rushed into my mind.

"who did you lose." i asked. he looked up confused but interested.

"i lost my mother and my wife." he said. "they were killed during a bandit attack." he looked at me with his dark brown eyes. "did you lose anypony." he asked.

"i lost my wife and daughter." i said. "i used to live in a country to the north but then i came back from a war to find that the enemy had destroyed our home... me along with other soldiers fled... i went to equestria to find a new life... i settled down shortly after arriving in a small town close to the capital of canterlot. quickly made many friends and then remarried. i have two daughters now... and i've been from them for five months." i said. finishing my story. i hung my head and stared at the ground.

"i thought i had it rough... i'm sorry to hear that." he said.

"...they think i'm dead now." i said. i could hear mystee next to me. she was crying. you couldn't see any tears but you could feel them... she was crying on the inside. i looked over to jericco.

"it was very kind of you to take this stallion with you." i said.

"we owe him a great deal." said jericco. "he saved mystee from the bandits... she would be gone if it wasn't for him." i looked over at ezekiel.

"she was surrounded when i found her..." said ezekiel. "i fought and killed three of them and the others ran... it's all i could think to do." he said. without hesitation. mystee got up and ran into the waggon. we all watched her. "physical scars fade but mental ones never do." he said.

"i take it she saw a lot." i said.

"she's not the kind of pony who deals with tragedy well." said jafiri. "she gets this way sometimes... it's best to let her let it out."

"she was at the village school when we were attacked. she had to watch as her classmates were butchered in front of her..." said ezekiel. "when i found her she was covered in blood... none of which was hers."

"it's not easy." i said. still staring at the waggon mystee ran into.

"i'd take it you've seen a lot of fighting." said mirella

"i've done more than just see a lot of fighting but i've been in a lot of fights... i started off clean and pure. like a white robe. but all the stains of battle and war have covered that robe until it is a consistent blood red..." i said.

"i know what you mean." said ezekiel. "i was the village guard... i've seen my fair share of violence and death... it's not a pretty sight." i looked at ezekiel. i could see a lot of rage bottled up inside. he was like me. always good in a fight but when that bottled up rage breaks and gets lose then we both become an unstable and unstoppable force to be reckoned with.

before i knew it the fire in front of us was dying down to a flicker and the cold desert night started sinking in. ezekiel put some more logs on the fire and it kicked back up. we sat outside for a few hours and talked. they told me their story about the gypsy camp and i told them mine.

the gypsies are almost all earth ponies. the only exception are a few pegasus ponies, but no unicorns. they explained that it's actually impossible for unicorns to practice this kind of magic. they also explained how it's not really magic but nature. the way they explained it though it just sounded like science. it was always even and there was a formula to it.

they couldn't explain much about it because of how complicated it is. but jericco told me he would talk about it later. but it does sound very interesting. they also told me about their life at the village. apparently jericco is one of the more renown gypsies in the village. they call him the blind seer. i can guess why. he didn't tell me how he could see when he's blind. he didn't tell anypony, not even his own wife. he just tells him that ' seeing into other worlds' crap that he told me.

eventually the fire died out and we ran out of logs. the others left to their own caravans and wagons. jericco, mirella, and jafiri, went to the family waggon while ezekiel went to his own wagon. mystee was still in this storage wagon which i had to sleep in tonight. i tried putting off going into the waggon but that only lasted seconds. the desert was colder than the snow in the mountains i traversed.

eventually the cold drove me into the waggon. i walked in and looked around. there was a great warmth that covered my body. i looked over and saw an oil lamp sitting on a crate supplying the room with light. i saw mystee lying down on a pile of blankets and covers. there was a spot for me too but i would have to walk past her.

i swallowed my emotions and slowly walked forward trying not to make a sound. mystee was laying down with her back to me. she was still but there was no way of telling is she was sleeping or not. i slowly walked by her. the good in me was telling me to comfort her and help her feel better... but there was a big part of me that wanted her to be sleeping so i wouldn't have to. i hate confronting people on this kind of thing. i'm not sure if it's because i don't know how too. i usually can't think of anything to say but when the problem rises i always seem to know what to say.

another reason might be because i'm afraid of making her cry... i hate it when people... and ponies cry. i hate it when my loved ones cry and when my friends cry. that's why i hate letting people down. or maybe this is just the one thing i'm afraid of... i could be afraid that i might not say the right things... and that i might make it worse. or it could be all of the above.

i slowly made my way past mystee and i was right on top of my bed spot. i sighed in relief on the inside. part of me was telling me to turn around and wake mystee up but the rest of me was screaming sleep. i was tired, my legs are aching and weak, and i'm afraid to confront mystee. before i laid down though i heard some rustling and movement from behind me.

i turned and saw that mystee was awake. her eyes were still rashy and red. she wasn't crying anymore on the outside but there were still tears on the inside. she stared blankly at the ground with her eyes half closed. i never noticed this but she has the most amazing emerald green eyes. it was almost painful to see them filled with sadness. you could almost see the mental scars in her eyes.

"i'm sorry..." she said weakly. the good in me soon overpowered all other senses and i slowly walked over to her. i got down on my knees and laid upright. i laid next to her and she kept staring off into the distance. "i'm sorry." she repeated.

"no mystee... i'm sorry." i said. "i'm sorry for what happened to you... but you've still got you're family... be proud of that..." she seemed to perk up. she looked at me now with her big green eyes. "you might not be able to go home... but you can go and see you're family... i can't, i'm already dead to them." i said. "but you're healthy and so is you're mother and father and brother... you might not have home but you have family... and family is always better than home."

i looked into her eyes and i could see tears welling up in them. i was afraid that she was going to cry again... but i was wrong. the tears are just all the sorrow in her eyes being drained out to make way for happiness. she shuffled over and rested her head against the front of my neck and on my hooves. she was smiling.

"thank you." she said. "your right... i have my family, and as long as i have them i'm always home." she said looking up to me. i looked back at her and smiled. "i'm sorry... but i feel like this is my fault." she said.

"how is this you're fault." i asked curiously.

"not this." she said. she lifted her hoof up and held up a small black vial. "i'm sorry." she said.

"sorry for what." i said taking the small vial.

"we ran out of ink for the spell scrolls so... i... i took the rest of the ink from you're bag..." she said.

"what..." i said. i admittedly sounded angry because of what i just heard.

"i'm sorry." she said. she closed her eyes and pulled her head back like she was expecting me to hit her. i'm ashamed that the thought of hitting her actually did cross my mind. but i calmed down immediately. she opened one eye to see how i was reacting. when she saw the calm look on my face she stopped flinching and looked up at me with big puppy-dog eyes. "i'm sorry..." she said staring back at the floor. "you must hate me now."

"no..." i said. "i don't hate you." i said. she looked at me. my face was a mixture of happiness and disappointment. "there was no way you could have known it was magic ink. but you still should have told me."

"i was going to tell you but when you acted up over the ink i was afraid..." said mystee.

"well it's a good thing that you gave it back to me anyway... thank you." i said. she smile for a few seconds but then it faded.

"there isn't much ink left though... i'm not sure if you could even write a full sentence with it." she said. i looked at the vial. it did feel lite. i held it up to the oil lamp resting on the nearby crate. she was right. it was hard to tell but there was very little left... but at least it's some.

i smiled though. i used my magic to open up my bag and pick out a scroll and quill. i brought them over to me and the shadow vanished. mystee watched and smiled at the whole thing. i put the scroll down and popped the cork off the vial. i dipped the quill into the ink. already a third of the remaining ink was gone. with little ink i didn't bother with the formalities.

"what are you going to write." asked mystee.

"i don't know." i said. a few drops of ink fell off the quill and back into the vial.

"you need to let them know you're alive." she said.

i looked at mystee and then back at the scroll. i couldn't think of anything. but i need to figure out something. i need to let them know. i've already come this far... turning back now isn't an option. i can't give up... i can't lose faith. i thought about it more and then it came to me. i smiled and so did mystee when she saw me smile. i wrote the note and used up the rest of the ink. i rolled up the scroll and tossed it into the air. it flashed and burst into a cloud of green smoke that passed through the waggons covering.

i smiled at mystee and she at me. i yawned and laid down. i rested my head on my front hooves and mystee laid her head down on the back of my neck. i smiled and slowly drifted off into my own thoughts. i'm glad i let my friends know that i'm alive. i hope they haven't given up. like my note said.

****i hope they didn't lose faith...

-Authors Note: so i think the whole gypsy caravan thing is working out pretty well. might have the next few chapters stay with the gypsy camp and possibly the large gypsy city in oasis. might even make mystee become an important character... (hmm whats this? a new character?!)... possibly, i'll let you guys chose... but if i get no replies then i'll do what i want with her. the mystee character however was not requested by a fan so that leaves all sorts of possibilities. so keep reading, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	67. Chapter 67: Caravan Life -(Part1)

i woke up to a sliver of light shining through a tear in the waggon tarp. the first thing thing i felt was a rush of cool wind blowing into the waggon. the cold wind passed over me and chilled my body. i wanted to curl up to preserve heat but before i could i noticed mystee was still sleeping. she had her head resting on my neck and one hoof over my shoulder. she was smiling in her sleep.

another cool breeze passed over and mystee's smile faded. she shrugged in coldness and inched closer to me. she hugged me tight from behind and wrapped all four legs around my body to keep her warm. she pressed her chest against my back and rested her head slid further up my neck until she was almost resting on my face. in her warm comforting position she stopped shivering and a smile spread back across her face.

i could feel her chest expand and press against my back with every breath she took. i could feel her heart beating in her chest. she looked comfortable this way, so i stayed lying down as not to disturb her. i closed my eyes trying to see if i could put myself back to sleep but it was no use... i was already wide awake. i looked around the cart out of boredom and my eyes panned across a tied up scroll on the ground.

my heart started racing in excitement and i felt a huge smile spread across my face. i almost jumped up right then and ran over to it... but i didn't. as much as it was killing me i wanted mystee to get some sleep. i felt just like a kid staying up christmas night waiting for morning so he can go unwrap his presents.

i managed to calm myself down and remained patient and still. but i would be lying if i said the anticipation wasn't killing me. i eagerly waited for something to wake mystee up so i could read that note. i did think to use my magic multiple times... but my magic isn't that subtle... or quiet. the worst part is that i have no sense of time right now... so i don't know how long i've been waiting.

i laid there eagerly waiting when a heard a yawn from mystee. i felt the weight of her head lift off of my neck. she picked her head back and i looked back at her. she slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. she managed to force her eyes open and noticed that she was clenching onto me for warmth. she slowly took her hooves off of me and blushed.

"did you sleep well." i asked.

"yes..." she said. "thank you." she smiled at me and i smiled back. "why don't i get us some breakfast..." she said. she looked behind her and i followed where she was looking. i followed her eyes right to a clock... a clock, of which i had never noticed before somehow. it was a strange looking clock though. it had symbols instead of numbers... and there was an odd amount of them too... not like the original 12 hours on regular clocks... this one had 13. i'm not even going to try and understand it.

"what time is it." i asked.

"it's almost 6" she said. that was surprising to me. we got up early it seems.

"theres still an hour before the convoy gets moving again..." she said. "why don't i make us some breakfast."

"thank you." i said. we both got up and mystee walked over to the cargo and started rummaging through boxes. i walked over calmly but eagerly to the scroll lying on the ground. i finally made it over and i picked it up. i was about to open it up and read it... but something felt strange.

i felt like someone was watching me. i quickly turned my head to see that mystee was watching me. she had a smile on her face that only grew larger when our eyes met. she had two hot bowls of...something on a crate next to her.

"i'm sorry." she said. "that note was the first thing i noticed when i woke up... but i assumed you had already seen it." i gripped the note in my teeth and walked over to her. i took a seat at the crate and so did mystee. she sat right next to me. "i know you must be eager to read it... so go ahead." she said. i looked at her and smiled.

i slowly unwrapped the note and waited in anticipation. i started to think about all the things that the others have said. i bet this letter is chalk full of all sorts of things they've written. i bet dash is crying right now from happiness. i slowly unrolled the scroll and looked at it. then my mind shattered.

"but...but..." i stammered in a mix of confusion and rage.

"it's blank!" exclaimed mystee. she looked at me. my eyes were focused on the scroll. i was so mad that i almost wished that the scroll was alive so i could strangle it... but it's not. i'm just getting angry for the hell of being angry. i threw the note away and slammed my hooves on the crate. the bowls of hot food shook and spilt over a little and the wood of the crate cracked.

"DAMNIT." i yelled out in rage. in a jump of fear mystee flew back a few inches. she seemed upset... but i was seething with rage. i stared at my hooves resting on the surface of the broken crate. i was gritting my teeth just to try and keep myself from exploding.

"i'll leave you alone... i'm sorry." she said. she quickly rushed out of the waggon. it's a good thing she did because i was so angry. i got up and stomped my way over to the note on the ground. i raised up two hooves to smash it through the floor of the waggon when something caught my eye. i looked at it and i couldn't believe it.

there was writing on it now. i placed my hooves down and a sense of hope quickly drowned out the rage. i wasn't happy though... i don't know how i should be feeling so i'm not going to decide yet. i curiously picked up the note and read over it.

"Dear crimson. don't worry you're note got through to you're friends... but the note you're friends sent back was intercepted by an outside force... i assure you it wasn't me or my sister. but they miss you... the second they got a note from you they... well i don't know how to describe it... i've seen hearts break but i don't think i've ever seen them heal so rapidly... i had even began to consider that you were dead... thank you for proving me wrong. Sincerely Princess Celestia."

i had expected this to be from luna if not my friends. i find it a bit shocking that celestia passed on the message for me, considering she said she wouldn't even consider helping me with this quest. i still don't understand why the note was blank before... she must have used some kind of magical ink that vanishes when others are around... yeah probably something like that.

i placed the note down with a smile and walked over to my bags. i put the note inside and headed over to the wagon flap. i walked out of the flap and was greeted by a flash of sunlight. one again i missed the step and fell on my face. i could hear laughter beside me. once my vision adjusted i saw that it was mystee laughing. the second i looked at her though she abruptly stopped her laughter.

"i'm sorry, i shouldn't laugh... you must be very upset right now." she said. i just smiled at her while i got up and dusted myself off. it's a good thing that there's sand to break my fall.

"it's alright mystee... i'm not mad anymore... infact i'm feeling pretty good right now." i said. she seemed confused.

"but you were so mad before... the blank note." she said.

"don't always overlook what you can't see." i said.

"what?"

"oh nothing... don't worry about it." i said. "i'm much better now... c'mon lets eat breakfast." i said. she smiled and we both went back into the waggon. i cleaned up the spilled food and we ate. i'm not sure what i was eating but it was good. after we finished mystee undressed from her silk robes. i almost turned my head out of privacy but then i remembered were ponies. she didn't put anything on after that.

without her robes i can finally see what she really looks like. her blinding white mane and light brown fur looked brighter without being overshadowed. her emerald eyes and white teeth. i noticed she had a scar on her left ear. it was a cut that made it look like piece of it was missing... like mine. her main and tail were silky and smooth looking. she had a cutie mark of two heart outlines that connected to each other. i admittedly say that she looked beautiful.

"i hate wearing these dumb robes." she said. she looked at me hoping i would reply. when i didn't say anything she got confused. i'm ashamed to say that i was actually distracted by her body. "hey..." she said trying to get my attention. it worked. i snapped out of my blank stare and focused on the conversation.

"oh sorry...uh... well if you don't like the robes why were you wearing them." i asked.

"it's part of our tradition and belief... we have to wear them in front of guests... but you've been with us for so long you don't really count as a guest anymore." she explained.

"but i've only been with you for about 3 days now." i said.

"no..."she said correcting me. "you've been conscious for three days... you've been laying in this waggon for a bit over 2 months." she said. i smiled.

"yeah true..." i said. she giggled.

"c'mon... let's go find my father..." she said walking toward the waggon flap.

"why?... so he can plant me with a job." i said sarcastically.

"yep." she replied with a smile and an upbeat but witty tone. she left the flap and walked outside.

"great..." i said to myself. i swallowed my laziness and walked out into the desert. i was surprised to see how fast the convoy had sprung to life... a few minutes ago when i got mystee we were the only ones outside. but not anymore, almost everypony was outside and preparing to get moving again.

i remember when derek and i were in the military we used to go on convoys like this. only difference is that there were less ponies and more guns...and tanks. i saw mystee talking to her father and headed over. i met up with them and they both smiled at me.

"ah... ready to do some work."said jericco.

"well i can't really say no..." i said "it's the least i can do after all you've done for me." i said. i completely avoided the subject about how i made them rich. jericco smiled.

"don't worry..." he said putting his hoof on my shoulder. "i know you're legs must still be sore so i won't have you pulling carts." he said. i hadn't really noticed often that my legs were sore... my mind was just completely busy with other thing that i didn't have time to notice. but as he mentioned it i could feel waves of slight pain passing over my hooves and knees.

"thank you." i said.

"why don't you go and trade with the other caravans." he said. "we'll give you some money and you can go and trade..." he said.

"alright... sounds like fun." i said. i hadn't noticed but mystee left to go talk to her younger brother. "is there anything in specific you need." i asked.

"just basic supplies... mostly food and water... and if you happen to come buy any inkwells and parchment we could use them for our spells." said jericco. i smiled.

"can do." i said. "let me just get ready and i'll head out when the convoy gets moving"

"good luck." he said. i smiled and walked back into the wagon. i walked over to my bags and looked through them. i did some rearranging which didn't take long. basically i moved all the stuff from the left pouch into the right one. i'll keep their supplies in the left one. i also kept my gold pouch tied to the side of the right bag just incase i'm interested in a few things for myself.

i walked out of the waggon and met back up with jericco. he handed me a leather bound pouch. he explained that he traded in one of the gold pieces for silver and copper with one of the more wealthy of the caravans. it didn't take me long to figure out which one. there was a large group of regal looking and decorated waggons down the trail. only ten or so carts away.

i looked inside the pouch. there were many small silver coins and even smaller copper ones. i closed the bag and tied it to my saddle bags. i talked with jericco a little more and he filled me in on a few things. he gave me a list of supplies.

"water, food, cloth, soap, parchment, ink,...etc" the list was a bit big. he said that i don't have to get everything on there. he said that the essentials were the most important. there were other things on the list too. ezekiel is looking for a bow. mirella is asking for a list of ingredients for potions. and mystee wants a necklace.

jericco told me to go talk to jafiri. he said that he's the best trader in the family and knows more about it than the rest of them. i found jafiri and talked to him about trading. he told me to watch out because gypsies are mischievous and tricky when it comes to trading. he said that i would have to do a bit of haggling with some of them. he also told me to watch out for spoiled food or dirty water and for fake items. he handed me a little blue stone.

"take this." he said. i held it in my hoof.

"what is it." i asked.

"it's a traders stone." he said. "it'll help you out... if a trader is selling something that's unclean or fake the stone will glow." he said.

"that's pretty nifty." said. "i'll make sure to get it back." i said. he smiled and we parted. i went over to the wagon steps and rested my hooves. i sat there for a while until the convoy started moving. the crack of whips filled the air for those who were using oxen to pull their carts... many were. the whole caravan train sprung to life and started to slowly inch forward.

the waggon i was sitting on jerked forward almost causing me to fall back on my ass. i caught myself though and got on all fours. i guess this meant it's time to work. i got up and decided it would be easier to walk against the convoy. i started walking forward and many carts and waggons passed me by. i guess i should trade with one of them. i saw one walking with a camel. i walked up to him and turned to walk with him. he looked at me.

"looking to buy something stranger..." he asked.

"are you selling." i asked.

"you're new to this aren't you." said the pony.

"was i really that obvious." i asked. he smiled and let out a soft laugh.

"well not at first." he said. "you've got the cold eyes of a trader... but what gave you away was asking if i was selling." he said. "first thing you should know is that everypony is selling... just be lucky i told you, more diverse traders would have sold you into poverty." he said.

"alright thank you..." i said.

"don't mention it." he said smiling. he looked at me again. "hey wait a minute... you're that pony that others have been talking about... the one they found on the road half eaten by wolves..."

"yeah... that would be me." i said. "i'm working for the family that saved me... i owe them whatever i can give them." i said.

"that's good of you... i honestly thought you were a goner about two weeks ago... so they've got you trading..."he said.

"yeah... so what are you selling."

"that depends what do you need." he asked.

"do you have food or water." i asked.

"yeah i do... just a sec." he said. he slid one of the barrels to the side of the camel so the top was facing up and it was being held upwards. he opened it and there was a bunch of leather water sacks. "there 10 copper each." he said.

"i'll take 5." i said. i opened the leather pouch full of money and pulled out a silver piece. i handed it over to him but he didn't take it.

"i'll tell you another thing since you're new at this... five times ten is fifty... i only need fifty copper and a silver is worth a hundred copper." he said. i could feel a sense of pity in his voice... i didn't mind.

"yeah i know... but think of the other fifty copper as a sort of thank you gift... you're help might have saved me more than just this 50 copper." i said smiling. he smiled too and grabbed the silver piece. he put it in one of his pockets and i put the leather water sacks into my bag.

"is there anything else you need." he asked.

"are you selling any food."

"most ponies don't sell food... neither do i. sorry" he said.

"that's alright."

"the only place to buy food is one of the large trading caravans like the one down there." he said gesturing way down the caravan train to a large cluster of tent like waggons. it was hard to see from here, but it looked like they just took the whole market and put wheels on it.

"thank you." i said. i almost turned away to leave but i stopped. "oh one more thing... you wouldn't happen to be selling any jewelry would you." i asked.

"can't say that i am... jewelry is a expensive this to be asking for... i'd check the market caravan." he said. i smiled and nodded. i turned around and made my way to the market. i sped up into a light trot to get there faster. it didn't take long since it wasn't very far and the convoy was moving against me. i made it there in not time. it was bigger than i thought. there were gaps between the shops but the wagons had large windows with ponies in them. probably the traders.

there were platforms of wood jetting out in front of the windows for the customers to stand on so they didn't have to walk with them... smart. i walked around and scanned all the shops. there were quite a few traders here. i should probably just get essentials first. i walked around until one shop caught my eye.

there was a medium sized waggon with a sign on it. the sign read "Madame Enclave's Magic Shoppe". it sounded like the perfect place to find various gypsy things like parchment and the ingredients mirella wanted. i walked up and hopped onto the wooden platform. i walked over and waited for a mare to walk up to the window. she was old and looked like a very generic gypsy... she even had the turban and everything.

looking past her i could see several books resting on a shelf. there were jars and pots with labels on them filled with various things. notes, spells, jewelry. i might be able to cut out half this list just here. the old gypsy mare. he eyes were binding and mystic. they ran a deep pink color just like... like dashes eyes. i shook myself back to reality.

"you must be madame Enclave." i said. she smiled.

"i am... what can i get you child." she asked.

"i need some ink and parchment."

"how much." she asked.

"hmmm... i think 3 bottles of ink and a stack of parchment." i said. she looked at me and smiled. three bottles of ink flew over onto the window counter. next a ton of square paper started flying over too and stacked up perfectly... i was interested. she used gypsy magic but without the rune or spell... she couldn't be a unicorn because there was no magical aura over the items and her turban doesn't cover the spot where her horn should be... interesting.

"that will be 4 silver and 20 copper." she said. i pulled out 4 silver pieces and the 20 copper and handed them to her. she took them and i put the parchment and ink in my saddlebag. "will that be all?"

"uhm...no i still need a few more things." i said. i took out the list of ingredients. and read it over. i don't recognize most of these things... nor do i know how to pronounce them. i handed her the list. "i'm looking for the things on this list..." she grabbed the list and read it over.

"i should have these ingredients and in the proper increments." she said. "wait here." she said as she walked past a small flap into another room. i got a quick glimpse of the room. it was small but the walls were nothing but shelves packed full of jars and pots. she disappeared behind the curtain.

i waited patiently for her to come back. i looked at some of the other things she had around the store. there were many books about gypsy magic and spells used in their magic. there was a book with the title "The truth behind truths". i'm not sure why but the title of that book interested me. that book was the largest one there. but i quickly let it slip my mind.

i looked around at some of the jewelry that she had around. there were a lot of decorative bracelets and earrings. she even had gold and emerald hoof cuffs. i kept looking and i found a bunch of necklaces. i scanned past them until one particular necklace caught my eye. it was a fancy, decorative, silver necklace. it was emerald embezzled with a heart shaped ruby at the center. i almost couldn't take my eyes off it.

soon enough madame enclave walked out of the back room with small pouches floating beside her with no trace of magic unicorn or gypsy alike. she placed them down on the counter and walked over. she smiled.

"this is everything on the list." she said. i handed my hoof out so she could give the list back. the list was floating next to her. "you probably don't need this anymore." she said smiling and closing her eyes. almost instantly the list sparked and burst into flames. the shock from her performance caused me to pull my hoof away quickly but i stood still.

"thank you." i said.

"the total for the ingredients is 2 silver exactly." she said. it seemed a bit cheap but i didn't argue. before i paid her i checked the stone jafiri gave me. it wasn't glowing so they weren't fake or anything. i handed her the silver and put the ingredients in my bag.

"there is one more thing." i said.

"what is it dear." she said.

"that silver necklace with the ruby heart... how much is it." i asked.

"oh, that's an expensive piece of jewelry... i don't think you could afford it." she said.

"just tell me how much." i asked.

"i'd have to say around 50 gold." she said. for the amount of money i had in equestria, that was dirt cheap. but in this country that might be the most expensive thing ponies could get their hands on.

"i'll give you 20 gold for it." i said. she just laughed at me.

"you couldn't possibly have that much money..." she said. she kept laughing. i just rolled my eyes and undid my cloth pouch while she laughed. i put it on the counter and opened it up. when her eyes hit the gold she stopped laughing and her eyes widened.

"how about i do you a favor and we can just settle on 35 gold pieces." i said.

"but... but... how do you have so much money." she said focused on my pouch of gold. i quickly closed it and pulled it away.

"don't worry about it... so like i said...35 gold." she paused for a moment.

"40 gold." she said.

"alright." i agreed. she seemed a bit shocked that i ended the deal so quickly. i pulled out 40 bits and she brought over the necklace. while she did that i checked to make sure it wasn't fake... it wasn't. she placed the necklace down and i took it. i gave her the money and left. soon as i left she closed up shop.

i looked at the necklace in my hoof. i knew that mystee was going to love it. the silver hit the light of the sun and it sparkled brightly. i put the necklace in my bag and decided to continue on. i still need to get some food and a bit more water couldn't hurt.

****this trading stuff is fun...

-Authors Note: hey guys. gonna keep with the gypsies for a few chapters. this is just the first part of a large chapter. i think i'll do one more chapter after this maybe two involving the gypsies and then I've decided to make one chapter about the gypsy camp in oasis. hope you guys liked this chapter. stay shady-End of Note-


	68. Chapter 68: Caravan Life -(Part2)

now that i've got some of the things on this list i should probably get some necessities like food or tools. jericco did mention that he needed some oil for the waggon wheels. and maybe while i'm at it i can find ezekiel a nice bow and some arrows. though he doesn't strike me as the kind of pony to use a bow. especially when he lugs that big sword around on his back... but whatever.

i quickly started looking around the caravan for other shops. there were quite a few but all of them were just selling useless junk or jewelry... probably fake jewelry at best. i kept looking around and found a large waggon being pulled by six oxen. it was a restaurant on wheels. there were chars on the ledge next to the window and ponies ordering food... food sounds pretty good right now.

i walked up and took an open seat far from the other ponies so i don't bother them. a mare came up to me and asked me what i wanted... i quickly scanned through the menu hanging over head. the meals were numbered so i made a quick decision without thinking. i honestly wasn't expecting to be serviced so quickly.

"i'll just take a uh...24." i said. she smiled.

"i'll be right back with that sir." she said. she walked away past a wagon flap to a kitchen. i quickly looked at the board to see what i just ordered. i read it over and realised that i didn't know what the fuck i was reading. it was in some kind of gypsy language... crap. oh well it can't be that bad... it's a good thing i'm not a picky eater.

i waited for a few minutes and the waitress came out with a hot bowl of food. she smiled and told me how much it was. normally you wait after the meal for the check but this makes sense since a pony could easily eat their food and hop off. it would be easy to hide amongst the gypsies.

i looked over the bowl to the food i just ordered. it was a bowl of noodles and broth... probably not chicken broth but maybe carrot or something else. i saw little pieces of carrot and scallions, and various other stir-in's floating in the broth. i took a bite and it was delicious. i quickly munched down the bowl and ordered another. by the time i was full i had already eaten 6 bowls. the total was 10 silver.

i felt pretty bad about spending jericcos money to stuff myself. so i paid with my own money... oh the look on that waitresses face. i handed her a gold coin and she froze. eventually somepony from the back had to come and get her and when he saw the gold coin he almost froze too. i just smiled.

"have a good day." i said smiling and hopping off the cart. i walked around and browsed some of the other shops. i found one shop that was selling clothing... i was interested. i walked over and talked to the guy. after a bit of conversing i eventually bought an outfit. i paid him one gold and left to change.

it was a cloth and leather bound outfit. it had a sleeveless leather guard but cloth material for sleeves and inside the leather. the sleeves were baggy so it was like wearing flares. it had a bandolier across it that could hold knives and other things. and it had a utility belt. not exactly as awesome as batman's belt... but still pretty cool. it also had a cloak too. it was a dark brown cloth cape and hood. it was torn and ragged but it added for effect. i put it on and check myself out... i looked awesome.

it's always fun to try a new style every now and then. i walked around the market some more sporting my new style when i came across a bunch of food stalls. it was about time i found some food to buy. i went across to various stalls and stands buying different kinds of fruits and vegetables. i even bought a few preserved meals. after that i found myself out of the produce section of the market and into some kind of flea market. this place was bigger than i thought.

i looked around at some of the things ponies were selling but most of it was just junk. there were a few interesting things that caught my eyes but they didn't have any practical use... just useless junk. i kept looking around and i saw one pony at a stand selling weapons. i almost passed him by when i spotted a fierce looking bow. i walked over and hopped up on the wooden platform.

"what can i do for ya sir." said the pony. he looked scrawny and sleazy for a weapons dealer, but i looked him back over and saw he was pretty battleworn. he had a scar cutting down the right side of his face and over his eye. he had scars and wounds scattered over his body. i looked at his arsenal and he had some very fancy and decorative swords and weapons. but i focused my attention back at the bow.

"how much for that bow there." i said pointing to it. he smiled.

"ah... any bowman would be able to spot this bow with his keen vision." he said walking over. he took it down and walked back over. "it's not the most decorative weapon here... but it's likely the most reliable... solid mahogany with dragon fur strings... it'll get the job done." he held the bow up to the light to see it.

it was a dark brown to almost black bow. it had bright red fluid designs etched into it that ran all the way up the bow. the string was a sleek silver and caught the light. it looked amazing. i'm sure ezekiel would use it well.

"how much do you want for it." i asked.

"5 gold." he said with a smile. i know it was cheap but i haven't done much haggling today and i wanted to try it out.

"i'll give you 2 gold." i said.

"three..." he said. not exactly what i would have said but who cares. i smiled and stuck my hoof out.

"deal." i said. we shook and he put the bow on the counter. i pulled out three gold and gave it to him. he smiled and i took the bow. i strung it over my shoulder. now i just need to see if he sells arrows.

"will you be wanting arrows with that." he said with a smile... guess that answers that question. "i'll sell you a quiver plus fifty steel arrows for one more gold." he said with a smile. tricky bastard. i smiled too. i pulled out one gold piece and tossed it to him. i grinned devilishly and pulled out a leather quiver with a bunch of arrow tails sticking out of it. i smiled and took them. i strung them over my back and carried on. now i look dangerous.

i walked through the market a bit more and looked around. i ended up buying some cloth, oil, more water and food, and tools. i think i was almost about ready to move on from the market and check some other things out. i think i'll travel down the convoy train for a little bit then head back. i looked up in the sky and the sun was a bit to my left. i'd have to guess that it's just over noon time right now... so i still have plenty of daylight to burn.

i noticed some black specks in the sky. i stopped to observe them and let the caravans pass me by. as they grew closer i made them out to be ashes. the ashes from the sky fell down and hit the sand. they mixed in with the already black sand. i wonder were these ashes come from and how this place could rain fire. although it was strange i liked it. it was like it was snowing and i loved the snow when i was a kid. seeing as growing up in nevada meant there was almost never any snow means it was more exciting to me than others.

i carried on and eventually got to the edge of the market just a bunch of very small carts being pulled by a single ox. the carts were either just small stands or poor looking ponies sitting next to a pile of junk yelling at others to buy their things. it was getting quite noisy and i was starting to get a headache. i was almost out of the market when some old mare was yelling something close by. i looked over to see a crowd of ponies following with her cart gathering around her.

she must be selling something good to draw this kind of a crowd. i slowly made my way over to see what the commotion was about. as i got closer i could hear the other ponies yelling out 'Hag' and 'crazy old mare'. i don't think they were looking to buy. but still i was intrigued. i got to the crowd and walked over and stood by to watch the whole ordeal.

"you crazy old mare... quit trying to con us." said one stallion.

"it didn't work back at the village it won't work now... you're just lucky there's no more village to run you out of." another one said.

"i'm not lying." the old women said. her voice was weak and scratchy. "just listen to me." she said.

"oh shut up..." one pony said. "nopony's going to buy that damn rock of yours. i didn't exactly like the way this was going on. i walked forward a bit and stood next to a random stallion. i got his attention and he looked at me.

"what's going on here." i asked.

"just mare picotto trying to scam us again." he said. "and using the same lie for the past 2 years hasn't helped her much." he said. he rolled his eyes and smiled at me as if he expected me to hate this mare.

"what lie is she telling." i asked.

"you don't know... how can you not know." he said.

"i'm new here." i said. a look of realization washed over his face.

"ohh... well you see she think's that the stone she's trying to sell is a philosophers stone... old bat's gone crazy... like anypony would believe that." he said once again smiling and rolling his eyes.

"what's a philosophers stone." i asked. he seemed confused and surprised.

"are you for real..." he said. "how can you not know."

"i'm not familiar with traditions and customs here..." i said explaining as we walked and followed the crowd of ponies that were following this old mares cart and harassing her. we dropped back from the crowd to get some quiet. "i'm not even from this country." i said.

"ah and adventurer." he said. "well the philosophers stone is a gem of incredible power... it can turn iron into gold and can generate matter from thin air." he said. this stone sounded like an amazing thing. now he had me believing his own cause. this woman does sound crazy.

"now why would anypony want to sell something like that." i said.

"that's why it's a scam... nopony in their right mind would sell something like that." he said. this poor old mare must have snapped at some point. the guy smiled at me and started trotting off. "i need to get back to my caravan... have a good one." he said trotting off and smiling. i put on a fake smile and waved.

i turned my attention to the old mare who was now visible. the crowd had left and she sat there in the tailgate of a small cart. it was carrying a few barrels and a crate. there were blankets covering it and there were a few cloth sacks lying around it. she hung her head low in woe as donkey pulled cart creaked and rattled across the black sand. i trotted over. she looked up to me with distrust and hate filling her eyes.

"have you ponies any pity on a poor old mare." she said. she didn't seem crazy... no i'm sure she wasn't. she wasn't lying about the stone because she had lost her mind... she was just doing it because she had lost hope. looking at the few supplies and the little shelter she had in the cold desert night's i felt sorry for this old women.

"some may not..." i said. "but i do." she brought her head up. i reached into my bag and pulled out several gold coins. her eyes lit up at the sight of the gold. she smiled for a second but then it faded.

"what kind of cruel trick is this." she said. before i could answer the cart came to a halt. the donkey in front bucket a bit but she calmed him down. she came back over to me. i looked up at the convoy and the whole thing had stopped. it must be some kind of break or something. i looked around to see ponies feeding their oxen and cows. the old women gave the donkey a sack of oats and a bucket of water he ate happily.

"i promise you it's not a cruel trick." i said to the old mare leaning over a crate. she climbed back over and sat down again at the edge of the cart. "i can see you're a poor old mare and i pity you... here take the gold." i said pushing my hoof a bit closer with the handful of gold. she reached one hoof out and took the gold. her face was a mixture of joy and unimaginable happiness.

she was about to say something when a rotten apple flew past me and hit the poor mare in the face. the impact sent her headfirst into the floor of the cart. the gold i had given her fell out of her hoof and all over the cart floor. she let out a yelp of pain and surprise. i heard a few snickers and angry growls behind me. i looked back to see a gang of three stallions with rotten food.

"HEY!" i roared out in anger. i stared right at them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING" i said.

"what are you mad at us for... this woman just conned you." he said. he winded back and threw another apple. it whirled by and hit the edge of the cart. i looked at the stain and back at him.

"just give this guy his money back picotto." a different pony said.

"yeah." said the third pony. he threw an apple and it hit the side of a barrel in the old mares cart.

"Hey." i said again. "leave this poor mare alone... you cruel bastards... it's bad enough you won't help her because she's poor, but now you call her crazy and harass her..." i said.

"you're kidding me." said the first pony. "you're really standing up for this crazy old hag." he said. "you must be out of you're mind too.", with that he wound up and threw something else. it wasn't an apple this time but it was a rock. it hurled over and hit me in the head...hard. i grit my teeth in pain in put my head down in pain. i slowly picked my head up and looked at them.

"go ahead." i said. "throw something else... i dare you.". i glared at the first pony and he smiled back at me. i could feel a trail of blood trickling down the side of my face.

"what are you going to do..." he said in sarcasm. "kill me." he wound up again and threw another rock. it whirled forward right for my face. before it could get to me i sent out a spike of shadows from the sand. it burst through the sand and pierced the rock stopping it only a few feet from my face. i quickly sent out a wave of shadow spikes leading to the three ponies. before i skewered them i stopped the spikes only inches from their necks.

"i could do that..." i said in remark to his previous statement. i looked at them in the eyes and i could almost taste the absolute fear and horror in their eyes. without hesitation the three stallions bolted away. i pulled the shadows back under the sand and looked around at the other ponies who had been watching. they looked at me for a few more seconds then returned to their own business without question. i walked back over to the old mare who was watching in awe. she had wiped away the apple from her face and collected the gold she dropped.

"are you alright... they didn't hurt you did they." i asked.

"no... i'm fine... but why." she asked.

"because i'm not able to sit by and watch grown stallions bully and beat up a poor old mare..." i said.

"thats not what i'm talking about." she said. i was interested in knowing what she was referring to. "i meant why was i so lucky to run into you today..." she said. i smiled.

"i'm not sure... but sometimes i feel like i can't avoid helping others." i said. she smiled. she reached her hoof into a small stitched on pocket on her rags. she pulled out a small red stone. it was a thin shard of what looked like ruby... but it wasn't ruby. the shade of red is much darker. she held it out to me.

"here take it..." she said.

"i gave you that money to help you... not for that stone." i said.

"if you won't take it as a purchased product than take it as an earned reward. she said pushing it closer to me. "i don't need this kind of thing in my life anyway." she pushed her hoof closer and i grabbed the stone. i held it in my hand and looked at it.

"why would you sell this... if it is the real philosophers stone, than you would be richer than that gold will make you." i said. she smiled at me for a second but then stopped.

"i can tell that you're no ordinary pony... and that was no gypsy magic... and certainly not any unicorn magic if i've seen any." she said. she looked back at me. "something this powerful doesn't belong with a an old lonely mare like me... but i think you'll be fine." she said smiling.

"thank you." i said smiling. she smiled back. i walked forward away from her cart. i looked back to see her still watching me leave. she waved to me and i waved back. when i was out of view i looked back in front of me. i stopped for a second by the back of a trade wagon and looked at the stone that mare gave me. i don't think i could sell this for any real money but i can keep it a sentimental value. besides maybe it could make a pretty necklace.

i got back up and started walking again. not long after i moved forward the convoy sprung back to life and started moving forward. i walked by slowly passing the moving waggons and carts. i turned away and stared at the ground. i started to think about a few things. my mind actually wandered off to the possibility that this stone is the philosophers stone. i started wondering what i would do with it... i thought of some crazy stuff.

losing myself in thought i stuck my head up and looked around to make sure i hadn't overpassed jericcos caravan. i looked around and i shockingly discovered that i was by the same exact wagons from when i last saw. i looked closely and noticed that they were actually moving a bit faster than me... i was going backwards. luckily this armour i bought has a opening for my wings.

i spread my wings out wide and lept off into the air leaving a small cloud of dust behind on the ground. i took off flying down the line of waggons and caravans. i flew slowly so i could enjoy it. it has been a while since i was able to spread my wings and fly around. i started to get distracted and enjoy myself. i started pulling of figure 8's and barrel rolls and other neat tricks. i got caught up and noticed that sun was just lying above the peak of the large sand mountains in the distance.

i focused myself and started flying over past the caravans. i made it past the huge gathering of stored that they call the market and made it to the clutter of personal caravans. i flew a little bit further passing several wagons and carts. i flew a bit more until i picked up a familiar pony with my hawk like vission. it was jericco and he was... watching me? that can't be right. i'm at least 30 caravans away from him... i could barely see him. that guy gives me the creeps. i respect him and i think he's probably the best father ever but he's the kind of guy that has some kind of giant hidden power that everypony knows is there.

i flew a bit faster and eventually i was right over him. i slowly floated down until i was only a few feet from the ground. i clasped my wings shut and landed on the soft black sand. i walked over to him and he walked over to me. he pulled back and stood next to me as we walked with the convoy.

"nice outfit... it looks rather good on you." he said. i looked at myself forgetting what i was wearing.

"yeah i think it's nice too..." i said. "don't worry though... i bought this with my own money." i said."speaking of which." i said pulling out his leather bag of money. "heres the money." he said. he grabbed the bag and slung it over his back with a smile.

"doesn't look like you got many supplies." he said. "but i see you got a bow for ezekiel." he said.

"and a necklace for mystee, and the complete list of ingredients you're wife asked for" i said. "all paid by me... as a sort of gift." i said. he laughed.

"it doesn't look like you got many useful supplies." he said chuckling. i laughed too.

"looks can be deceiving." i said. i switched over so he was to the left of me and i opened the flap to my saddlebag giving him a look at the supplies. i could see his eyebrows raise up in surprise and curiosity. then he grinned.

"they certainly can be." he said. "that's a nifty bag you got there... must be heavy."

"not at all... it's as light as a feather." i said. "compliments of my friends back home." i said. he laughed again.

"your full of surprises..." he said. "come with me..." he said. "lets go to the family waggon to sort out the goods." i walked with him to a medium sized wagon being pulled by a single ox. it was well decorated and fancy. he walked past the flap and welcomed to to come inside. i walked inside and was instantly taken back from the sight.

it was like the tent i slept in when those wandering hunters found me. there was some kind of spell on it that made it bigger on the inside. the whole thing looked like a house. the whole place was decorated with silk and pictures. there was a large table in the middle and some other furniture. i looked around and i noticed a few beds... enough for the family.

i then noticed the whole family. they were gathered around a large fire pit. there was a roaring fire that somehow wasn't burning the place to the ground. mirella who was already facing me noticed me and smiled. ezekiel was the second one to notice me. then mystee and jafiri who were sitting with their backs turned to me spun around and saw me. jafiri smiled and wave and mystee stood up and smiled excitedly.

"your back." she said cheerfully. we both walked towards each other and met up in the middle. "did you get any good supplies." she asked. before i could answer jericco did it for me.

"oh he's quite the trader... even started spending his own money for us." he said. that brought a smile over my face and the smiles on everypony elses faces grew a bit bigger. mystee walked with me to the table and we sat down next to each other. i took off my bag and placed it on the table. i opened up the left pouch and a few water sacks and fruit rolled out.

"i put all of the supplies in this pouch..." i said. i started pulling stuff out a the others started organizing it. "apples, water, soup, cloth..." i kept naming off the items until only the personal things were left. i was saving those for last.

"you weren't kidding dad when you said he was quite the trader... we have enough supplies for a month now." said jafiri. "you must have made the hike all the way to the market complex." he said.

"yep..." i replied. "i also bought more than supplies." i pulled out the sacks of ingredients mirella had requested. "here mirella... these are all the ingredients you wanted in proper increments."

"oh my." she said. "i hadn't expected to acquire half of these for at least another few months... thank you crimson." she said. we both exchanged a smile. i pulled the bow and arrows off my back and held them up.

"here's the finest bow i could find." i said to ezekiel. "and a quiver of 50 arrows." he reached out and grabbed the bow. he held it proudly. he pulled the string and the bow arched back. the let it go and the string shot back and filled the air with a low hum. he smiled.

"this is a fine bow indeed." he said. he looked at me and i smiled. he smiled too and nodded his head. i then pulled out a set of tools and some cans of oil.

"here jericco... i got some oil and tools to fix up the wagons." i said. he grabbed the tools and smiled.

"thank you crimson." he said. i looked over at mystee and she looked back at me smiling.

"i got you something too mystee." i said. i reached into a side pocket in the pouch of my bag. i pulled out the necklace but kept it hidden in my hooves. "jericco told me that when i was recovering you were the only pony who bothered to come and check on me." i said.

"that's right..." commented jericco. "the rest of us were busy... we even would have left you on the road that one day because we thought you were dead. if mystee hadn't bothered ezekiel to chase the wolves away... well you know." he said. i looked at him and smiled and re smiled back. i looked over to mystee and she smiled too. i held out my hooves and opened them to reveal the necklace. a large smile quickly spread across her face.

"oh my..." she said. she slowly lifted her hooves up and grabbed it. she looked at it in the light. "it's beautiful." she said. "i can't believe you found something like this..." jafiri leaned over and peered at the necklace for a second. he looked at it suspiciously like he was judging it. after a few seconds he smiled.

"well damn..." he said. "it's real too." he smiled and mystee looked back at me. she leapt forward and gave me a hug.

"thank you..." she said. i blushed at first but i soon calmed down and patted her back. i could see jafiri, ezekiel, and mirella all smiling.

"your welcome..." i said. she pulled away from me and smiled. "here..." i said grabbing her hoof with the necklace in it. "let me help you put it on." i said.

"alright..." she said eagerly. she handed me the necklace and turned around. i brought the necklace over and put it around her neck. i brought the ends together behind her neck and clipped them together.

"there." i said.

"oh sweetie." said mirella. "it looks beautiful." mystee turned back around and looked at me with a big smile. i did the same as well. we stared at each other for a while smiling. the moment was ended however by her father who cleared his throat loudly to talk. me and mystee snapped out of the trance we were in.

"well it's getting dark..." he said. "we should head out to stop the oxen so they don't crash into the others." we all got up and headed outside. he was right about it getting late. he walked over and checked a watch on his hoof. we walked a little bit more but only a few minutes. the i could see the caravans ahead starting to slow down to a halt. eventually our waggons did too. jafiri and mystee set up a fire pit and i helped ezekiel with the firewood.

"if you're going to be trading tomorrow... we could use more firewood." said ezekiel. he smiled at me and i smiled back. i looked at the wood they had and he wasn't lying. they could probably only go a few more night's. that's the problem with being in the desert. there aren't any resources... just sand. i helped him carry a few logs over and he set them up.

mirella walked over close to the fire pit. she whispered a few strange sounding words to herself and the wood sparket and caught fire. almost immediately we had a large roaring fire. the fact that she didn't use one of those spell scrolls interested me. it also made me wonder why they had me bother to get them more spell paper if they could just do that... i still think i'm interested in this gypsy magic.

i let the topic slip my mind for now so i could have a good time. we sat out for a while and told stories. i told some more stories about my adventures and they told stories too. after a bit jafiri got us some food from the waggon and we ate outside. after that we all sang some songs. i got to sing for them a song from my world... i sang a few verses of 'house of the rising sun' but changed some of the words to sound like the song wasn't from my world. i also discovered that jericco and ezekiel can sing a mean duet.

it was starting to get late and i saw that all the other caravans we're going dark. jafiri had already gone to bed... he is only a teen after all. i watched as the fire was reduced to nothing but a small flame above a heap of glowing cinders. i let out a strong yawn and i could feel my eyes getting heavy. i got up to go to bed.

"alright... i think i'll turn in for today." i said.

"have a good sleep." said jericco. i waved and made my way back into the storage waggon. i walked to the mess of covers and blankets. i didn't bother to take off the armour i was wearing... it had grown to be rather comfortable, besides it'll keep me warm tonight. before i could close my eyes i overheard mystee and jericco talking.

"i think i'll spend the night with crimson...to keep him company." said mystee.

"i thought you'd say that..." said jericco. "have a good night sweetie."

"thanks dad." replied mystee. soon after the waggon flap spread open and mystee walked in. i pretended to be asleep but kept one eye open to watch her. she looked at me and smiled. she walked over and stepped past me. she laid down beside me and pressed her back against mine. i smiled and closed my eyes.

****i think i really like mystee.

-Authors Note: so ive officially decided to make mystee and important character in the whole story (yay). I've also been sucked into the whole gypsy convoy thing so i might stick with it a bit longer than i thought. and the reason i interpreted the idea of the philosopher stone is because the point of it came up at my college lecture and it interested me... in my research into the stone Google pointed me to an interesting Japanese anime called Full Metal Alchemist- Brotherhood. i haven't watched it yet but i plan to. so i hope you all like the chapter, Stay Shady-End of Note-


	69. Chapter 69: Caravan Life -(Part3)

i woke up the next morning to something poking my back and rubbing my side. i slowly opened my eyes and turned my head. it was mystee sleeping on my side again. her back hoof was digging into my back and she was nuzzling her head into the side of my stomach... but she was awake. she looked at me and smiled.

"comfortable..." i asked.

"yes..." she said. she dug her head further into my side. "ow" she said picking her head up quickly. she rubbed her cheek with my hoof.

"what's wrong." i asked getting up slightly.

"something sharp in you're pocket poked me." she said. i looked over to the small cloth pocket on my clothes. i reached in and pulled out the small red stone i bought off that old mare. i looked at it for a while.

"oh yeah... this thing." i said. mystee stopped rubbing her cheek and looked at it curiously.

"what is it." she asked. i almost told her what i thought it was... or at least what that old mare claimed it to be... but it wasn't worth the explanation.

"it's just a useless stone" i said. "i helped out an old woman near the market and she gave it to me."

""you mean old mare picotto." she said.

"uh yeah... i think that's what they called her." i replied.

"my dad tells me and jafiri to stay away from her..."

"don't tell me you're dad picks on her too." i said disappointingly.

"absolutely not..." she replied with shock. "my dad is one of the kindest souls in this whole village... he goes down their every other day and brings her food and water... he says he pities her, but doesn't look down on her." she said. i could tell she was a bit mad at me for even suggesting that her dad would bully that old mare.

"oh..." i said. "thats very kind of him." i said.

"hmmm..." said mystee staring at the ground. we sat there in silence for a few seconds when she picked her head up smiling. "but don't worry..." she said. "i'm sure my dads on his way down there right now with some of the food and water you bought us yesterday... i'm sure that old mare will tell him all that you've done for her."

"i'm sure to hear about that later." i said. we both smiled at each other for a few seconds when mystee spoke up.

"well we should probably get some food before we're put to work." she said. i smiled and nodded. mystee smiled too and got us some food. after she heated it up we ate. after eating i walked over to my saddle bag and slung it over my shoulders. we both walked outside and into the desert. the sun was just above the dunes to the east. the caravan wasn't moving yet but other ponies were out and preparing for travel .

i looked over and saw the others working to get going...all but ezekiel. i looked around for him and found him feeding an ox with a wagon saddled to it. that must be his waggon. it was smaller than the other family wagon, and probably not as spacious inside either... but it was close by.

"great you're up." said a familiar voice. i turned around to see it was jafiri who had broken from the others. i looked past him and saw jericco with some sacks tied together and slung over his back. he was heading off down the convoy... he must be going to see the old mare. i returned my focus back to jafiri.

"morning..." i said. "got my work for today." i asked.

"yep... got something special for you..." she said. he pulled out a map and held it up. it was a map of the desert. the convoy trail was drawn on and out approximate location was circled... by the looks of it we still had some land to cover before oasis... but there was something else circled close by.

"what's there." i said pointing to the circled place.

"that's where you're going." he said. "it's a small desert village set up in a desert oasis... we need you to go there and trade."

"alright... but where is it." i asked. he pointed to the south. i looked over into the vast ocean of black sand and nothingness.

"it's that way... it's close by but still too far for most ponies to get too... and that's where you come in." he said. "you can fly so you should be able to make it there in no time at all."

"if it's so close then why can't i see it." i said trying to focus my vision further and get a glimpse of it... the scary part is that the desert is almost perfectly flat so i could see for miles... but there was nothing.

"well it's relatively close." he said. i sighed.

"don't worry..." i said. "i'm sure i'll find it." i looked over to jafiri who had a sack of water and some fruit with him. he handed them to me.

"you'll need these..." he said. "and a weapon too."

"why a weapon." i asked curiously.

"the caravan has started heading into sand scorpion territory... so it might be dangerous."

"i think i could handle a few little scorpions." i said. he laughed at me.

"little is quite the understatement..." he said. i looked at him. "a baby sand scorpion is probably bigger than most ponies... an adult scorpion is capable of probably wiping out an entire town..." he said.

"and you're passing right over their territory." i said surprisingly.

"don't worry." he said. "we thought this out long ago... we've covered the caravan in a very potent mixture of cherry blossom and vinegar." he said pointing over. i saw a few ponies with buckets and brushes almost painting over their caravans with a sort of liquid.

"what's that going to do..." i asked.

"well the vinegar is what keeps them away... it burns away at the protective covering on their bodies keeping them from burning up in the sun and drying out... it also burns away at the retinas in their eyes... the cherry blossoms potency just helps carry it through the air." he said. they did think this out... it was like chemical warfare. i took in a whiff of air and it smelled like cherries... it was pleasant.

"you can already smell it." i said.

"yep... that means it's working." he said. "and for an added precaution we've got water sacks full of vinegar to help protect us if one should not be repealed by the vinegar already in the air." he said smiling. "the stuffs like acid to them"

"like salting a slug." i said. he looked at me and smiled.

"exactly... so i'd take some vinegar with you." he said holding out a sack of vinegar... it was dyed red.

"it's dyed red so make sure not to confuse it with you're water..." he said. i laughed.

"i'll make sure." i said. i spread my wings and got ready to take off south when jafiri stopped me.

"hey... aren't you going to take a weapon." he said.

"i'll be fine." i replied.

"well try to stay in the air as long as you can" he said. "the scorpions burrow underground and can be anywhere... as long as you don't touch the ground they can't sense you."he replied. "oh and you'll need this." he said holding out the leather bag of money. i grabbed it and put it in my bag.

"alright." i said. "i'll keep airborne" i spread my wings again and rocketed into the air. i flew hastily towards the town they were speaking about. i flew at a very fast pace and eventually i was out of sight for the convoy. i could just barely see them but still couldn't see anything up ahead.

after a few more minutes of flying forward i lost sight of the convoy... i was flying in the middle of a sand ocean. it wasn't long until the heat started getting to me and i was getting thirsty. i slowed down to get some water out of my bag. i got the water sack and took a sip... it tasted horrible and i immediately spit it out. i looked at the bag and it was dyed red... i can't believe i've already made that mistake.

i put it away and took out the real water sack. i took a sip... much better. i took a drink of water and started feeling better. i put the water away and sped up. i flew fast over the desert and over the sand dunes. i looked around and saw a small strange speck of land to my right. i looked over and focused my vision. i saw a large vast field of grass sand and palm tree's. it was surrounding a large lake of water on one side. the other side of the lake was covered by a village.

they told me it was a small village but they were wrong... it was huge. i banked to the right and headed straight for it. it only took me half an hour to fly over. i hovered over the grass and sand field and touched down outside of the city. i walked over to the lake and looked at it. it looked very refreshing. i took off my saddle bag and clothes.

i jumped into the water and swam around. i swam down deep and took a breath... yep, i can still breath underwater. i swam underwater for quite a while. only a few minutes though. it was cool and refreshing. i stopped swimming and gently floated down to enjoy the feeling of falling without worry. i sank for only a few seconds before i felt something grab me.

i looked back and saw a pony had grabbed my tail and was pulling me towards the shore. i quickly yanked my tail back and he looked at me. he seemed almost scared but more surprised. he only looked at me for a few seconds before swimming back up to the surface for air. i watched as he made his way over to the top before i went up too. i used my wings to swim up with enough force to breach the surface and leap right from the water to land.

before i did anything i shook myself off. i looked around and saw we weren't far from where i had initially jumped in. i looked to my other side and saw the pony who grabbed me. he was with a mare and a slightly younger stallion. he was dripping wet and coughing. i walked over.

"are you alright." i asked.

"we...*cough*... we thought you were drowning." he said.

"we say you fly in from the desert and jump in." said the mare with one hoof on the stallions back. if i had to guess they were a family. "you were underwater for at least 5 minutes so we thought you were drowning... my husband jumped in to get you." so they were a family.

"damn boy..." said the older stallion. "you must be part fish."

"something like that." i said. i looked at him and the mare urged the younger stallion to go home. i watched him run over to one of the stone houses nearby. "i must thank you for saving me... even though i wasn't in trouble, the fact that you did something says a lot." it took only a few seconds for the stallion to get onto his feet.

"not a problem stranger..." he said. "i'm surprised you made the journey this far into the desert."

"well not all the way across the desert." i said. "i'm here from a nearby gypsy convoy... i'm looking to buy fresh supplies."

"gypsies, ey." said the stallion. " a strange bunch them gypsies... we even got a few from oasis that come here with their clothes soaked in vinegar looking for trade... always stinking up the place."

"hmmm... how far is this place from the sand scorpion territory." i asked.

"miles if i had to guess." said the stallion. he looked over to his wife "you head back honey." he said. "i'll welcome the newcomer." he said.

"alright." she replied and took off to the same house the boy went to. i watched her leave and put my attention back onto the stallion.

"why do you ask about the scorpion territory." he said.

"just wondering... you probably don't know but the reason gypsies might travel here soaked in vinegar is probably because they're smart." i said.

"what's smart about smelling like vinegar."

"seriously..." i said. "you live in the middle of the desert and you don't know." the stallion just looked at me curiously. "vinegar is like poison to those things..."

"huh... didn't know that." he said. "scorpions don't really bother us at all... i don't even recall ever seeing one in my lifetime. what are they like."

"i don't know either... but the gypsies told me about them." i said.

"well if trade is what you're looking for then you should head the the market in the center of town... plenty of stuff there." he said.

"thanks." i replied. i walked with him and we talked a bit about what it's like being in a gypsy caravan and he told me about the village as well. finally we got to a street in the town. there were ponies here and there but not too many. most of them were dressed similar to me. "well i better hurry up then." i said. "convoy's moving without me..."

"good luck stranger." he said as i walked away. before i got too far he stopped me and said something else. "oh and watch out for pickpockets." he said. i just smiled and waved as i walked away. he waved too and went back into his house. i walked down the streets.

he said the center of town is where the market is so i should make my way there. as i walked along the streets and progressively got closer and closer to the center the streets got a bit more crowded. it wasn't that bad though. all the ponies kept to themselves though. i was thinking about looking to see if i could browse and buy some stuff on gypsy magic while i'm here but i do only have gold... maybe i can exchange it for silver.

i kept walking around looking for a place but nothing was coming up... i wasn't even diverting a path from the town center. i was still making my way there and it's taking me hours. i had almost given up my goal when i came across a place called 'the silver exchange'. it seemed like a start. i walked over and entered. the inside was just as boring and grey as the outside. i say a large dest lined with tellers. i walked over to the closest one. she looked up at me without emotion.

"can i help you sir." she said. her mundane look and emotionless voice put me off but i didn't make a big deal of it.

"yeah." i said pulling out two of my gold coins... "i'd like this in silver please"

"one moment sir..." she said taking the gold coins. she moved from the desk and over to a back room. the room was guarded by two stallion with curved swords by their side. i waited patiently at the desk for a few minutes. soon the mare came back over with a large cloth bag. she came over to the desk and placed it down. i could hear the clanging of metal as the bag hit the desk. "here you go sir." she said. "180 silver coins." she said.

"wait i thought one gold is worth 100 silver coins... i gave you two." i said questionably thinking they had just scammed me. she just looked at me.

"it is sir... but there's an interest fee." she said. "this is a business afterall... we need some way of making money." i felt a little bit at ease. i'm surprised i hadn't thought of that...oh well.

"alright i get it." i said apologetically. "sorry for the misunderstanding... have a nice day." i said grabbing the bag and walking out the door. i opened the bag and poured the silver into my bag of gold. i tucked the bag away in my saddlebag for any later use and continued down the street. it wasn't long after that i started seeing shop signs and businesses covering the street. there were stalls and shops everywhere.

there were also ponies everywhere... luckily the streets here were large so there was room to move. i looked around for a while before finding a stall that sells water. i walked over and bought a bunch of water. neck thing i got was food for both us and the oxen. after that i found a store that sells basic supplies. i got some more oil for the lamps and a length of rope.

the heat started to get to me so i found a bench and sat down. there was a another pony sitting down too but i didn't pay much attention to him. i took a drink of water double checking that it wasn't vinegar. i put the water down and looked up to the sky. the sun was right in the middle of the sky... it's noon time now. i've made good time.

"hey...you." said the pony next to me. i looked over to see him. "where are you from." he asked.

"how can you tell i'm not from here." i asked.

"you smell of gypsy..." he said.

"you mean like vinegar." i said remembering my conversation earlier.

"no... gypsy and vinegar are two different smells... you look new too... where are you from." he said. i smiled at his persistence.

"i'm here gettinging supplies from a gypsy convoy heading to oasis." i said taking another sip of water.

"i hate you damn gypsies." he said angrily. "all you do is walk in here... buy up a bunch of strange shit, speak in fancifull riddles and do you're gypsy magic then leave the next day." he said. he must have some kind of grudge.

"well lucky for you i'm not a gypsy." i said taking another sip of water.

"huh?"

"yeah... i'm not a gypsy." i said. "they picked me up half dead outside of the desert and nursed me back to health... i owe them my life, plus they're going where i need to be."

"well you just watch yourself." he said.

"why..." i asked. "do you have some kind of problem with the gypsies." i asked. he did seem rather hostile but calmed down when i told him i wasn't a gypsy.

"there just a strange bunch... using magic without a horn then claiming it's not magic." he said. "they're a lying bunch of tricksters."

"but it's not magic." i said. he looked at me with his anger coming back. "it's natural... but you're right about it being strange."

"ha... see they've gone and brainwashed you." he said. "they've turned you into one of them, those damn gypsies." he said speaking up and starting to cause a scene. i put my water back and stood up.

"i think i'm done here." i said walking away.

"i'm watching you..." he said. i just rolled my eyes and disappeared back into the crowd. the other ponies soon lost interest and returned to what they were doing before. and i returned to my trading. after a bit more browsing my stomach growled and i got lunch. i spent 8 of my own silver at a small restaurant next to a flower shop. the restaurant wasn't very fancy but the food was good. after i ate and paid i went back out to trade.

i looked around a bit more and came across a bar. with the worst of me coming out i decided to stop for a quick drink and clear my head. i stopped inside for a few minutes. i had two glasses of scotch and an ale. i also bought four bottles of booze. each was different. i spent my own money on them not knowing if jericco and his family would be alright with it.

i set out and looked around some more. i eventually came across a sort of medical store. some medical supplies couldn't hurt. i walked into the store and looked around. there were bottles of pills all around the place. i walked over until i came across some medical bags. they had a bunch of stuff in them like pain killers, sedatives, gauze bandages, and other things. i grabbed three and went over to the desk.

"how much for three medical bags." i asked.

"somepony hurt." asked the stallion behind the desk.

"no." i said. "but i'm from a gypsy convoy passing through the desert and were tracking over sand scorpion territory... so you know."

"right..." the stallion agreed. "better safe than sorry." he said smiling. i smiled too. his positive attitude brightened the place up a bit. "medical bags are 3 silver each." he said.

"really... a bottle of scotch cost twice as much as this." i said pulling out 9 silver to cover the three bags.

"i know..." he said rubbing his forehead. "this market is ridiculous... just the other day i saw ponies buying water for 5 silver a bag..." he said. "the seller claimed it to be the purest water in the land."

"and that probably bothers you because all these ponies could just refill their water at the lake." i said guessing.

"right... it's ridiculous." he said. "at least the need for medical supplies keeps me in business."

"why don't you just increase you're prices." i asked.

"because if i do that then ponies can't afford supplies and then they can't help themselves..." he said. "i would be indirectly killing these ponies." i smiled.

"it's good to see there are quite a few kind ponies in this place." i said. he smiled.

"yeah this place is rather friendly... there's trouble here and there but nothing serious... the worst crimes we get get is usually a small break in at a store or something." he said.

"good to hear." i said grabbing the medical bags and putting them away. "i hope you have a nice day."

"you too stranger..." he said smiling and waving over the counter. i waved back and left. i returned to the street and kept walking. i looked up to the sky and the sun was just a bit from the center. i still had time left. i looked around but i couldn't really think of anything else to get. so i started heading back. as i wandered through the market i stopped when i saw a huge hanging banner over the entrance to a new street. the banner read 'The Magic Market'. the name interested me so i wandered in.

i looked around for awhile and saw what ponies were selling. the name of the street wasn't misleading at all. there were ponies selling all kinds of strange things. the there were stalls and stores alike. they all had names relating to magic and such. i have to remember that some of this stuff is probably fake. but that was hard to believe as i watched the sales ponies demonstrating what their magic items can do.

i watched as one salesman started floating on some kind of magic carpet. i found that interesting but i'd prefer the reliability of my wings. i saw another mare juggling balls of multicolored fire. one of the salesmen i saw turned invisible. there was freaking magic everywhere. half of the ponies doing magic though were unicorns the others weren't so i assumed they were gypsies from oasis. which is a funny predicament.

if the earth ponies want to do magic then they have to see the gypsies. but there's a chance that what the gypsies are selling is a fake or a trick. but if they buy what the unicorns are selling then they might not be able to do any of the magic unless they're selling magic imbued items, but the unicorns are probably more reliable than the gypsies. it's almost funny when you think about it. i might look around for a bit.

as i walked around i found a kind of magic bookstore. i walked in and looked around. it was decently sized and full of books. there was a very proper looking mare at a semi circular front desk. i walked over trying to see if they had a particular kind of book i had in mind. i walked over and she looked up at me with a smirk.

"can i help you sir." she asked quietly taking in the fact that this was a library.

"do you sell books here." i asked.

"most ponies just come in and browse," she said. "but yes we are apt to selling the books." she said. i smiled.

"wonderfull." i said. "do you have any books on gypsy magic."

"yes..." she said. "isle 4B is all on non unicorn magic... you'll find it in there."

"thank you." i replied. she smiled and looked back down to a book that she was reading. i walked away and looked around for the isle. it took a minute to find but i got to it eventually. it was quite a large isle and might take some time for me to find a book i'm looking for. so i started looking.

it took longer than a minute and if i had to guess i've been looking for at least ten minutes now and still nothing. there were a lot of books on magic items that can be activated through non magic ponies but not much else. i spread my wings and hovered a little bit to the top of the bookcases. there were more promising things up here. i kept looking and my eyes lit up when i found a book with the word gypsy in the title. without actually reading the full title i grabbed the book and flipped to the first page.

i read it over and it made no sense at all... it was so confusing and didn't help at all. i closed it and got a glimpse of the title. the title read 'Advanced Understanding of Gypsy Magic'. that might be why. maybe something less advanced. i put the book back and looked for something else. i eventually came across a book titled 'Gypsy Magic For Beginners'. this looked much better. i opened it up and looked at the glossary.

"Intro to Gypsy Magic, Understanding the Basics, Flow of Energy... etc" this book was perfect. i grabbed it and looked for other books about spells maybe but there were none. this is good enough for now. i hovered gently back to the ground and touched down. i walked back over to the front desk with the book tucked under my wing. i put the book down on the desk and smiled at the mare. i noticed she had already moved halfway into a different book than from last time... she must read fast.

"ahh... the beginner's guide." she said. "will this be all."

"yes." i said.

"that piece will be 2 silver and 40 copper." she said.

"i don't have any copper." i said. "so heres three silver."

"thank you." she said with a small smile. she took the money and i grabbed the book. i tucked it into my saddle bag and headed out the door. i got outside and looked around. i looked up at the sky and the sun was high above the mountains. i walked over and i noticed one stall had a sundial behind it. i don't know how to read one of those though.

"excuse me." i said talking to the pony at the stall. "do you have the time." i asked. he looked behind him at the dial.

"yeah it's just over 2 right now." he said. "you in some kind of hurry." he asked.

"no... i've still got time." i replied walking away. i looked around some more and took in the sights of the magic and stuff. a lot of these things looked remarkable and flashy but i would have no real use for them. after looking a bit more the magic and awe wore off. most shops i came by were selling a lot of the same things. mostly just flying carpets and magical items... pretty boring after a while.

i stopped by an apothecary and refiled some of my empty vials with health potion and left. i looked to see what other potions he was selling but none of them seemed interesting enough for me to buy. being... well...me, eliminates the fun of magical potions. the only potions i might really need are health and energy potions, but they weren't selling energy potions.

after a while i made my way out of the magic market and into a different part of the market. most of these ponies were selling jewelry and other types of rare items. a lot of the stuff was high priced. i also came across a few blacksmith's selling very expensive, well decorated armour. others were selling elegant weapons of every type.

one of the traders even stopped me and asked me if i was interested in his weapon. he showed me a large, heavy, spiked steel mace. it didn't end there though it was gem encrusted with a wool and cloth handle for comfort. i asked him why i would ever need such a ridiculous weapon and he practically freaked out.

"kid this is the strongest most effective weapon you'll ever find." he said.

"let me see it." i said. i took it from him and held it. it was far too light to be made of steel. i noticed that there was a bit of a crowd that had gathered when they heard the commotion. "so you say this is the strongest weapon i'll find here."

"that's right..." said the blacksmith with pride. i grabbed onto both end of the mace with my wings. one at the base near the spiked ball and near the end. i used a bit of my power to snap the mace in half. it was hollow.

"you're sure about that." i said with a devious smile. the blacksmith froze with an expression of shock on his face. i placed the two halves of the mace on the counter. i heard the crowd behind me start talking about the blacksmith and they were saying some pretty bad stuff about him.

some ponies walked away in disgust and others came up angrily and demanded a refund. i walked away as the blacksmith started coming up with excuses. i have to admit that i rather enjoyed humiliating that guy. i looked up and noticed the sun had grown closer to the sand dunes in the distance. i think i should start heading back.

i walked to the end of the street and it happened to be the edge of the market. i started making my way through the town for a while. i walked through many streets until the sun started getting closer to the dunes. i was running out of time and i was going to get lost in this place. i spread my wings and flew up over the town. i tracked down the lake and flew over there. i flew over to the spot where i landed near that other ponies house who thought i was drowning.

from there i got my bearing and headed back out into the desert. i flew fast over the sea of black sand for a while before the large oasis town started to fade out of view. soon enough it was gone and i was in a sea of black sand. as i flew i started to worry if i would make it back to the caravan. i worried that they might have completely passed by. but i calmed myself down by reassuring myself that it was too big to just pass by in a day. and even if it did i could probably follow their tracks.

i flew on for at least another hour before i caught something in the distance. it was a long black line. as i grew closer i made it out to be the convoy. i flew over as quickly as possible and reached the convoy. i stopped over it to look around. i didn't recognize anything there. i decided to just follow the flow of the convoy. i fly forward until i get to that huge market complex and then i should be able to get back from there.

so i flew onward with a peace of mind. but that peace faded as minutes soon grew into hours and the large market was nowhere to be found. the sun was resting at the peak of the large sand mountains and the desert was beginning to cool off. i need to get back before night or i'll freeze. with that in my head i started to pick up the pace. i flew faster than i had in a while and passed by the different caravans quickly. i flew for another half an hour and the temperature had dropped greatly. it had to be at least 40 degrees now and i was shivering.

the convoy had stopped and ponies were either heading to bed or starting fires and still the large market was nowhere in sight. i was getting worried now and i fear that any moisture in the air was going to freeze my wings if it gets any colder. at least it got this armour which is doing a decent job of preserving my body heat but it won't be good enough to sleep the night in.

i flew faster and faster as the night sky started fading yellow...to red... to black. the sun was almost gone and when that goes i'm going to freeze. i rocketed past the sky and looked forward. a smile spread across my face as the large market cluster came into view. it still took a few minutes to get to it. i had already started to lose feeling in my hooves, face, and wings. but i flew quickly and passed by the market in a few minutes.

as i raced down the train of waggons and carts i could feel my wings getting heavier. i looked over and saw they had began to frost over... that's not good. i tried to flex them and break the frost but my wings were too numb and stiff. it got harder to fly and i noticed my speed dropping as well as my altitude. i tried to stay airborne as long as i could but i was getting weak.

i was filled with a sense of hope as i noticed jericco's caravan up ahead. i noticed jericco and ezekiel waiting outside in the cold probably for me. i pushed myself harder and harder but my wings started to fail on me. i was so close and i could tell they could notice me because they were looking at me with shock. luckily i managed to push myself a little further before my wings stopped completely. i fell 20 feet out of the air to the cold sandy ground next to jericcos caravan. ezekiel ran over and quickly picked me up.

i could hear him and jericco saying something but i was on the verge of falling unconscious from the fatigue and the extreme cold. i could barely hear what they were saying it was just some mumbles and sounds. ezekiel quickly ran me into the large family waggon. the warmth of the waggon felt nice but i was still so cold. i was probably suffering from hypothermia.

i could tell because i was starting to show a lot of the symptoms. shivering, numbness, difficulty thinking straight, drowsiness, reduced heart rate, shallow breathing, and progressive loss of consciousness. i must have started developing it while i was still flying because it isn't normal for it to be so noticeable right away.

through my blurry vision and bad hearing i could tell everypony was inside. ezekiel ran me over to one side of the room and quickly dropped me on a bed. he quickly started to take off my clothing since the leather could be concealing some of the cold air. from what i could tell mirella and jafiri had come over and started putting blankets on me while mystee put a bunch of hot towels around me. the first place she put a hot towel was on my heart.

i was shivering and shaking because my body was so cold but i was sweating from the heat they put on me. i couldn't hear anything or see anymore. i was too tired to keep my eyes open and the cold must have numbed my ears enough to cause them to swell. all i could do was lay there and pray. it didn't take long until i was out cold... literally. good thing i made it back in time.

i'm not sure how long i stayed out but it must have been a while. i slowly started to wake up feeling much better than before. i was sweating and burning up from the heat, which in my case is a good thing. i slowly opened my eyes and moaned. i saw i was still in the family wagon which if i wasn't mistaken was now moving. it must be the next day.

when i fully opened my eyes i looked around to see if there was anypony here. i saw mystee right next to me on the bed sleeping. i could tell she was asleep from her breathing pattern. i smiled at the thought that she hasn't left my side.

"she's been there since last night." said a voice behind me. i turned my head to see jericco sitting next to the bed in a chair. he looked at me and smiled. "you gave us quite the scare..." he said. " that's the second time you've had us thinking you were dead." he said.

"well it wouldn't be the second time i've almost died... a seem to get myself killed on a regular basis." i said smiling.

"well something must really want you to live..." he said smiling. i glanced him a grin and looked back to mystee. she seemed so calm. jericco let out a sigh. "poor girl almost lost it when she saw you carried in here." said jericco. "you had ice covering you're wings and a really bad frost burn covering you're back and right side."

"frost burn." i asked wondering how that's possible. "what's that."

"it's when the extreme cold starts killing parts of you're body..." he said. "we weren't surprised to see that when you're wings thawed out they were covered in frost burns too... then you're face developed a burn too." i pushed back the heavy blank they covered me with. i looked at my side and stared in shock. i had a huge black and purple scar running from my right side to my back. being the curious dumbass i am i poked it and grit my teeth in pain.

"damn that hurts." i said. i spread my wings out slowly so i don't hurt myself either. i looked at them and way they were covered in burns too. all the way from the tip to the base of my back. they were sore as hell and so were my sides. i slowly retracted them and laid back down. "did you at least get the supplies i picked up." i asked looking at jericco.

"we didn't have time for that with you so badly injured... in fact i'm pretty sure that the supplies had completely slipped our minds" he said. i smiled and looked back at the burns.

"so how bad are these burns." i asked. his smile faded a bit.

"well the burns on you're wings and side are pretty mild." he said. "the pain should gradually recede over a week but the bun marks are going to be visible for another two weeks." he said.

"what about the one on my face." i asked putting my hoof close to my face but fearing to touch it.

"here look." he said holding up a small hand mirror. i grabbed it and looked at myself. the burn was dark black. it covered the right side of my face all the way from my forehead past my right eyes and over my nose. it looked spikey and reminded me of my shadows. the base of it was at my forehead and there were four spikes. one passed above my right eye and barely touched my left eye. the second one went over my right eye and barely made it past the bridge of my nose. the other passed down to my mouth and the tip poked the top of my upper lip. the last one shot straight down to my cheek near my jaw line. it looked horrible.

"oh my god." i said looking at myself.

"this ones more severe than the others." he said. "the shape of it and the fact that it started showing up after you were defrosting is a bad sign."

"how so." i asked. "well because it started showing up after you were thawing out means it had completely frozen you're cells before thawing out and killing them. the shape means it was cold enough to crystalize and spread freezing the fluid inside you're cells like ice." he said. that sounded absolutely horrible.

"how long does the pain last." i asked quietly.

"there is no pain." he said. in a surprised state i put my hoof to the burned area and touched it i couldn't feel any pain... i couldn't feel anything. "those cells aren't coming back ever... and the burn mark won't heal." he said hanging his head low. i slowly put the mirror down and hung my head low as well.

"thank you." i said. jericco picked his head up and smiled.

"it's her you should be thanking." jericco said gesturing to mystee.

"she's been by you're side ever since you were thrown onto the bed." he said. i looked at mystee and smiled. "she's the one who kept changing you're towels and poured warm soup into you're mouth... she even jumped on you and hugged you as tight as she could to keep you warm."

"it must have been horrible for her." i said.

"she tends to get attached to things... but she's the most caring girl i've ever seen and it does me proud to have her as a daughter." said jericco. we sat there for a little bit in silence before jericco got up from the chair. "you need some rest and i need to go help out my wife... now get some sleep, and take it easy." he said. i smiled and watched as he left.

when he was gone i laid my head back down and stared at the ceiling. i put my hoof to my face in contempt of my injuries. this is without a doubt the worst scar i'll probably ever have. but it will serve as a reminder of my strength and i'll wear it proudly... like my other scars.

i kept thinking to myself about everything that happened. i even started to wonder why i haven't died yet, it's not like i haven't had plenty of opportunity but why does something always save me in the end... is there really some kind of power keeping me alive or am i really that lucky.

i kept thinking to myself when i felt something rustling next to me. i looked over to see mystee turning under the covers. the flipped over and opened her eyes to see me. i smiled at her but she remained emotionless... but not for long. she leapt at me and hugged me tight. i grit my teeth in pain as she had just pressed against most of my burns but i didn't care... the pain settled quickly and i hugged her back. she started sobbing into my chest and soaked my fur with tears.

she didn't say anything just laid there hugging me and crying. i just smiled and hugged her back. after awhile she started to settle down only because she had fallen asleep again. i picked her head up and out of my chest so she can breathe and rested her head on my neck as a pillow. i pulled her closer and held her tight as she slept. i closed my eyes too but didn't sleep... there was too much on my mind for me to sleep.

it wasn't long however before mystee has started to wake up. she shuffled around a bit and picked her head up. she moved a few inches from me and looked at me i smiled at her and sat up. she wasn't exactly smiling back however.

"what are you doing." she said frantically.

"what."

"you need to get to sleep." she said trying to get me to lay back down.

"mystee i'm fine." i said holding her shoulders trying to get her to calm down. "if anypony needs sleep it's you." i said.

"no i don't... i'm fine." she said.

"no you're not." i argued. "it's probably well past noon and you've got bags under you're eyes." i said.

"no it's fine... they're not bags." she said turning away a bit.

"yeah you're right..." i said. "you don't just have bags... it's more like luggage." she smiled and giggled at the joke even though she was still trying to be upset and worried. she turned back and hugged me and i hugged her back.

"you're sure you're fine." she said with a few tears in her eyes.

"yeah i'm sure..." i said. "believe me i'm more than fine..."

"good." she said hugging a bit tighter. "i just... it would have been horrible if you were dead."

"i'm sure it would have been." i said. "c'mon... lets get some fresh air."

"alright..." said mystee. we both got up and i managed to get on my hooves. they were a bit weak but mystee helped me walk. together we walked out of the waggon and into the desert. the warm air felt good since i was still feeling a bit chilly. before we went anywhere ezekiel ran over.

"mystee what are you doing." he said.

"i'm helping him up." she said.

"you need to get him inside where it's warm." he said.

"you're sure it's not warm out here." i said with a witty undertone. ezekiel paused for a moment and looked up to the sun. he started laughing.

"i guess you're right..." he said chuckling. "i guess it would be nice to get some fresh air... mystee why don't you help him to the cart and he can sit in the tailgate." he said. mystee smiled and helped me over to the cart. she sat me down on the cart and smiled.

"i'll go get you're clothes to cover the wounds." she said. she ran off back to the waggon and quickly rushed back with my clothing. she helped me put on some of the clothing. the wings were the hardest part trying to get them through the leather vest but it wasn't that bad. i put on the hooded cloak and fastened it to the shoulders of the leather vest.

"there that should do it." i said fastening the last strap of the leather vest to the cloth under armour. i straightened it out and mystee smiled at me. i slid over on the tailgate and she sat down next to me.

"you know..." she said. "you look pretty badass with that armour and the hood covering you're scared face" i laughed.

"thanks." i said. we both laughed and sat there staring at the other waggons and carts passing in the train. " recovering after an injury is the worst because i feel so helpless." i said staring at the sand passing beneath our hooves as the cart moved along.

"well luckily for you then the scars shouldn't bother you as long as you don't apply pressure to them..." said mystee. "and you should be able to walk on you're own perfectly by tomorrow."

"good... because now i owe you and you're dad for saving my life a second time." i said smiling. she giggled a bit and smiled back. quickly after mystees mother mirella walked over and trotted alongside the cart smiling.

"ah good the two of you are up." she said. "crimson you stay here and relax... mystee i need you're help with something."

"yes mother." said mystee hopping off the cart. "i'll come back later." she said walking away with her mother. i just smiled and waved as they disappeared behind the cart. now that i was alone i became aware of more things. like how the air was still strong with the scent of cherry blossom and vinegar. i also noticed that i wasn't very cold anymore. i guess i must have warmed up. it would still be nice to get up and move around.

i sat on the edge of the cart and swung my hooves while humming the tune to a few beatles songs. it was relaxing and the sun's rays massaging my back felt good too. i looked around and enjoyed the sights... or at least what there was to see. shortly after there was a rumbling under the ground it was a mild shake but stopped shortly. the shake caused the oxen to freak out a bit. the ponies rushed to calm the oxen down. i quickly managed to crawl over to the other side of the cart and calm the ox down.

the whole section of the convoy was in a streak of chaos but it didn't last any more than a minute before we were on the move again. that was one of the strangest quakes i've felt in a while. i let it pass my mind however. i laid back in the cart and looked up to the red sky. i liked how the sky here was a deep maroon red. instead of the normal blue. and the small clouds that floated by were a bright orange.

after about a few hours of sitting in 50 different places on this cart i was getting bored as hell. i tried my luck and stood up on the cart and to my surprise i was able to stand normally on my own hooves. i did a few stretches to work out the kinks and i jumped down onto the sand. i trotted around without any worry. i happily trotted around until the ground started to shake again. like before the it lasted only a few seconds and made the oxen freak out. i calmed down the one pulling the cart and again like before it caused a bit of chaos that lasted only 10 seconds before the this section of convoy got moving again.

it's just like the one a few hours ago...strange. me being as paranoid and cautious as i am i kept a few shadows ready to spring out from the sand. i looked over and noticed ezekiel running over. he seemed troubled.

"no doubt you felt that." he said.

"yeah... that's the second time." i said.

"hmm." he hummed. he looked down at my legs then back up. "it's a good thing you can walk because i've got a bad feeling." he said walking next to me.

"yeah me too." i said. i noticed he had his bow with him and the arrows.

" do you need a weapon." asked ezekiel.

"no that's alright, i'll be f-" is all i managed to get out before i felt a large rumble quickly followed by an agonizing pain in my right side. i tried to force out a yell of pain but i couldn't. i saw ezekiel stare at my side in horror. i looked down to see a sharp blood soaked spike piercing through my chest. for a moment everything was still... then there was more rumbling.

i could feel my hooves leave the ground as i was raised into the air. underneath me the sand started rising and rolling off of a large brown shell. it was a giant sand scorpion that had emerged from the ground. it held me high with it's tail pierced right through my body. all the ponies and oxen freaked out and ran in fear. ezekiel's expression of horror turned from shocked to hatred. he let out a war cry and got his bow ready. he put two arrows on the shaft and fired them they went right into two of the scorpions eyes... he was good with that thing.

the scorpion let out some kind of cry and tried to swat at ezekiel with it's claw. the scorpion pulled its tail back and swung it around causing me to slide right off. it flung me into another caravans nearby cart. my impact with the cart completely destroyed it along with whatever was in it. i let out a cry of pain and grit my teeth.

my pain turned quickly to fear. fear that this was going to kill me and the fear that if i die all my loved ones and friends would be crushed. i also was afraid that ezekiel wouldn't be able to stop the scorpion and it would kill everypony in the convoy... including mystee. that pain and fear quickly turned to rage fueled strength.

i let a fierce roar as a tornado of black shadows picked me up on my hooves and tossed the rubble from the cart away from me. i changed into my shadow form and the symbols on my body started glowing. i amassed a large black pool of shadows that boiled and randomly shot up spikes. i looked over to see that ezekiel was being picked up by the claw of the beast. he was covered in blood.

i let out another roar and a thin wall of shadows ripped across the desert and severed the claw of the scorpion. the claw and ezekiel fell to the sand floor and the scorpion let out a fierce roar. it immediately turned it attention to me. i sent out a few more spike of shadows but the scorpion quickly dug underground.

i could see the trail it was causing as it tried to dig right for me. as it grew closer i shot forward a few shadow spikes trying to stab it through the sand. but i missed. i lept out of the sand and grabbed me with it's only claw. it land and held me tight. it started squeezing me tightly cracking and breaking my ribs. i cried out in pain and shot a spike up and pierced the beast through the chest. but it didn't die. it kept trying to crush me. as an added pain the spikes of his claws were digging in and cutting through my body.

i kept trying to pierce it with spikes but it wouldn't let go. i even cut off a few of it's legs, but this thing is relentless, it's still standing and crushing me. i let out another cry of pain. if i don't end this then this things going to cut me in half... i was already losing a lot of blood from my mouth. the scorpion raised me up into the air and threw me to the ground. i hit the ground and the sand soaked up the blood like a sponge.

before i could react the scorpions tail crashed down and pierced my leg. i yelled out in pain and tried to pull the scorpions tail from my leg. instead of lifting the tail up and stabbing me again he scorpion lifted me up and threw me back at the ground. before i could get even think the scorpion repeated it's action. this time stabbing me in the arm and throwing me back at the ground. before it could attack again i heard a cry... it was a mare.

i watched as mystee ran past me with a bucket. she took the bucket and threw it at the giant scorpion. the liquid in it scattered and drenched the scorpion. it roared in pain and i realized what she just did. she threw a bucket of vinegar on it. it roared in pain and it started sizzling. the shell started boiling and the scorpion was crying out in pain and scattering frantically. i watched as it's shell started to burn to an ugly burnt black.

"take that you ugly son of a bitch." yelled out mystee. the scorpion however wasn't as phased as mystee hoped. the beast quickly caught it bearings and started marching towards mystee with a vengeance. she froze there in fear. as the beast drew closer i tried to force myself up but i was too beaten. soon enough though the giant scorpion was right in front of her. it pulled back it's tail and mystee closed her eyes and screamed.

her blood curdling scream ripped through the air and filled my ears. my eyes narrowed and and unspeakable wave of strength and energy passed over me. the scorpion launched it's tail toward her but in a second i was right in front of her. i yelled out and shot a spike of darkness upward and cut it's tail off. i roared a deep growl and my whole body started to glow black... not just the symbols.

the ground shook and the world darkened. the ground underneath the scorpion ripped and tore until it gave way to a swirling vortex of darkness. i watched as the beast fell down the abyss and was ripped apart by shadows. with one more shout the ground shut immediately and the world lightened up. my body stopped glowing. i expected to just die right there but i didn't i wasn't even hurt anymore... there were no more wounds. but i could feel my mind start to slip away until there was darkness.

****what did i do this time.

-Authors Note: i just wrote this today but i decided that since it was so close to the last two chapters to just make it part three. so i hope you like this one... been a while since i wrote out a good battle scene. i think this was one of my finer battles even though it wasn't fully in crimsons favor... who cares. yet another fallen soul damned to hell by out hero. until next time, stay shady- End of Note-


	70. Chapter 70: An Island In The Sea

_"Rise... oh, strongest of spirit and wise of heart... rise young angel of darkness and blood... you who have seen the light yet are not blind to it's wisdom... Rise and take strength from the powers of all that can be known and unknown... you of equal body and mind... you who has cleaved a path through darkness and blazed a righteous fire in you quake... Give life and be hearty... be steadfast... take breath once more and be of a greater knowledge... RISE"_

as my body and mind filled with life and energy i was greeted by a great light... but it was no ordinary light. there was nothing laid out in front of me but at the same time i could see everything. all the worlds secrets were rushing into my gaze, filling my head with knowledge and power. i felt like i was going to burst. i felt like everything i had ever wanted... all the answers, were given to me... for a moment in time, i felt peace. but the light of wisdom faded... and the secrets of the world were locked away... made to lie dormant within me.

i don't understand it. a second ago i knew everything... i could remember everything, and i could feel everything. all the information in the world, crammed into my head... then lost. i remember it being there, i know it was given to me... but i cannot remember a single thing.

what i did before... what i caused. when i jumped out to save mystee's life... that energy and that power were not normal. i may not know much about what i am but i can always tell when something's wrong. and something is most certainly wrong. my powers of shadow alone aren't enough to do what i did... but i could feel the energy coming from me. it was a dark and powerful energy... but not evil.

it wasn't darkness... it wasn't light, it just was. that's all it was. it was power, in the most basic but refined form. the lord of darkness came to me. he told me about an unimaginable power. he told me about the light and the darkness. he said that if i had those two powers inside me then i would become like a god. but... i already have darkness and light within me... so what does this make me now.

i have nothing but my thoughts and memories as i am propelled through this void of nothing. pure absence and darkness. nothing to see, nothing hear, nothing to feel, taste, or smell... just me and my thoughts. but my thoughts aren't enough. i want to know, i want to unlock the secrets that were put to rest inside my mind. i want to see the truth.

slowly as i passed through the void i began thinking i was slipping into madness. as my memories pushed towards the surface of my mind they began to feel almost real. the voices i can remember started rushing around me and became real. every conversation with every person i've ever met was playing before me. and i could hear them all. almost perfectly in sync they stopped... and there was a light, at the end of the dark void. the chaos stopped and i felt peace again.

"my son..." said the voice. "be still and carry not the burden of the world... but you're own."

the voice passed by me with strength and power. it filled me up with emotion and warmed me from the inside. it was an experience that no-one would believe... i'm not sure i even believe it.

"you have delved this far into the recesses of greater powers... but know that the fall to glory is a long drop indeed." said the voice. " you know who i am... and i am that i am... but there are other powers... ones more contrast than i am... powers that lay hidden but have great influence." i tried to speak out and question god but i only managed to choke out one word.

"why..." i said. i said it quietly and with content. the light grew brighter and wrapped around me.

"this fate was not decided for you my child..." he said. "this fate was forced upon you by a greater power... one that you will never hope to understand... a power that is not evil but is not good, a power that covers everything that is known and everything that was or will be known... but be hearty... you are not yet aware of the power you have awoke inside yourself... now... awake my child... and see the world through lighter eyes."

i wanted to question everything but the light soon covered my whole body in its glow and pushed me back through the darkness. back through the memories and thoughts. and back to life... from what should have been death rose only stronger life and power... and before i could understand it all... i awoke.

i woke up in a strange place. it wasn't the wagon but it was some kind of house. I looked around but couldn't see where I was. I could feel that my eyes were open but It was either too dark or I've gone blind. I started to consider the possibilities of now being blind from the incident but those were soon put to rest as my vision started to return.

I looked around and stared in awe. Everything I had seen before was different. The colors were so much brighter. There was no darkness but the shadows that cover the ground... Even then those were bright and vivid. I could see much more clearly now. I looked around and noticed a wardrobe.

I walked over to a wardrobe and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked perfectly healthy... In fanct I think I was bigger and more muscular than before. I looked different. My jaw was more chiseled and my teeth that were yellowing and slightly crooked were now bright white and perfect. My mane wasn't so scraggly an mangled, but straight and bright. I smiled at myself. As I grew closer up my body I checked over my eyes... And that smiled left my face.

My eyes... They weren't the same. They were a milky pale blue color. They looked around fixated on different objects... But I was blind. They weren't crossed like a regular blind persons eyes... They were fixated on what I wanted them to see... I could see, but I was blind. I started freaking out and backing up from the mirror hoping that it would go away... Hoping that this is some kind of terrible nightmare.

I didn't want this to be real for a moment. I tried shaking myself awake... Pinching myself... I even started slapping myself as hard as I could... No use, it wasn't a dream it was real... How does this stuff even happen to me. I grew weak and fell down on my side and laid down. I suddenly began to remember everything I saw and heard before... What I had witnessed.

It's hard to believe any of that is real... But then again its hard to believe a lot of things that I've witnessed lately. And by lately I mean everything I've seen since I came to equestrian almost 3 years ago. I'm shocked its already been that long. And god knows how long I've been out cold this time... I just hope nothing bad happened while I was gone.

i tried to fall back to sleep and maybe find comfort in my dreams but that didn't last long. i was disturbed by the sound of hooves pounding on hardwood flooring... i was in a house. the steps were followed by voices.

"c'mon i think he's up." said a familiar voice. i made it out to be jafiri. "c'mon hurry up..."

"let's hope the door will open this time..." said another deeper voice. it was ezekiel. i wonder what he meant by that.

"alright... slow down son." said another voice. through the sound of his voice and context i figured it was jericco. "me and you're mother aren't as quick as we used to be." he said. i heard a light laughter from a mare after that. the hoofsteps grew much louder until the door was forced open revealing a very excited jafiri.

" hey it opened..." said jafiri. he was smiling and waving his tail in excitement. only to look at me. a troubled and confused pony lying on the hard cold floor with blind eyes. a sense of doom and fear seemed to linger around the room. the feeling of misery was floating through the air. the horrid atmosphere quickly turned jafiri's good mood sour. he dropped his smile just as jericco and mirella walked in followed by ezekiel."he's different..."

"my god he's changed." said ezekiel.

"well don't just stand around..." said jericco. "help me get him back into the bedding."i listened to them worry over me as i laid there confused and sullen with my eyes half open staring into the distance. before long jericco, jafiri, and ezekiel picked me up and brought me over to the part of the floor with cushioning and bedding. they gently placed me down on the soft bedding and gave me some space.

"crimson... are you alright." asked mirella. "jafiri light some of these lanterns."

"yes mom..." he replied obediently. he ran over and started lighting a few of the lanterns around the room. each lantern lit up the room a little bit until after three lanterns there was plenty of light.

"dear god..." said ezekiel.

"hmm... there's no doubt he's gone through some kind of metamorphosis..." said jericco. i tried to force out a few words but all i could utter was a low moan.

"jafiri go get you're sister... maybe if she's here he'll start coming through." said mirella. i heard the trotting of hooves and assumed jafiri had left to get mystee as his mother had told him.

"he's been blinded..." said ezekiel.

"that can't be... let me see." said jericco. they easily turned me over on my back. jericco held a small lantern up to my eyes. the light caused me to blink and turn my head slightly. "hmm... he's responding to the light... but his irises have faded... this is quite strange." jericco pulled the lantern away and i looked at him. he opened up his eyes and looked at me. one of his eyes was fixed on a place away from me and the other was lazy and looked around the room. he closed his eyes.

"is there something wrong honey..." asked mirella.

"can you please leave me with him... there's something we need to discuss." he said. there was silence for a minute and i turned my head to the side again still half asleep and numb but fully aware.

"alright dear..." said mirella. "come ezekiel... we should go explain to mystee." i heard the sound of more hoofsteps quietly leave the room and then the door closed. jericco took a seat by the bedding in my field of vision. he had his eyes closed still and a smile across his face.

"you know i wasn't sure what you were when we found you... i thought you were lucky at first... but then when you broke down that first day i thought you were some kind of demon... but i talked to miss picotto and from what she told me and from all the good you have done us the charity and sacrifice you've shown soon proved me wrong... and when you saved not only my daughter or my family but most likely a large portion of the gypsy camp from that scorpion... well i knew you were something strong." he said smiling still.

"... do... do you know what i am." i said gaining some strength and forcing out a few words. he smiled.

"no... never before have i seen a mix of darkness and light in a pony." he said.

"how do you know... that there's light in me." i asked.

"the visible light in you is not seen obviously... but i obviously don't see." he said with a smile... yet another riddle.

"you never explained how you can see..." i asked. he let out a soft chuckle.

"after what you've done for me i owe you an explanation." he said. "i cannot see... i am blind and my eyes only register darkness... but i see with my body not my eyes... i can hear where others are... i can sort them out through smell... i can recognize the slightest difference in texture... and i feel everything moving through the earth... i can sense everything and register their picture into my head..." he said.

"that's impressive... i honestly can't say i would be able to live my life like that... but i have a way of finding my way around in the dark..." i said. i was feeling much better now. it was strange. i was fine getting up but then a sudden wave of fatigue put me to the ground. i could feel a presence from jericco that seemed to be giving me strength.

"i know that you are not blind..." he said. "your eyes are blessed... though you do not see with you're eyes, you see with you're mind."

"with...my, mind." i said confused.

"as do I..." he said.

"but i thought you couldn't see." i asked.

"because i choose not to..." he said. "that's why i close my eyes... because i do not wish to see with my mind... though i can i choose not to because my sight is hindered... though i can perfectly see what's in front of me, i lose sight of what's right... and what's true, and important." he said.

"so seeing with you're mind clouds you're judgement and you can't think straight." i asked.

"yes... but you can see clearly..." he said. he leaned over and put his hoof on my shoulder. "this is not a common gift... bear it proudly." he said getting up. he started walking for the door but i stopped him.

"wait..." i said. he stopped and turned to me. "you still haven't told me if you know what i am... please tell me." i asked. he just smiled.

"if you don't know who you are then what hope is there for me to know." he said. that wasn't the answer i was hoping for. "whatever it is you are always remember that the light in you reaches further than the darkness." and with that he left. he walked out and closed the door behind him. i was left in the room with nothing but my thoughts. i sat there and stared at the ceiling for what might have been only 10 minutes.

i heard the sound of very light footsteps making their way to the door. i looked over and saw the door slowly creak open. i watched as mstee walked in with bandages around her front left leg. she quietly closed the door behind her and walked over. she looked at me but kept her head low.

"crimson... it's me mystee." she said walking over. i followed her with my eyes over to the side of my bed. i looked at her and she looked back into my eyes. "so you're not blind... my father was right." she said. i smiled.

"are you alright." i asked her.

"yes we're fine." she said hanging her head and avoiding eye contact. i reached a hoof out and picked her head up and brought her eyes over to mine. i smiled at her and put my hoof down.

"i asked if you were alright." i said smiling. she hung her head again. she had a few small tears running from her eyes.

"yes... i'm fine." she said.

"is something wrong." i asked. she was quiet for a little bit and just kept her head low. her eyes were hiding behind her bangs but i could see the tears rolling down the sides of her face. "mystee... please don't cry."

"i'm so sorry..." she said.

"what for..." i asked.

"this is my fault." she said. she took a breath and tried to speak up again but i interrupted her.

"don't you start that..." i said in a strict voice. she looked up in surprise and confusion. "this is nowhere near you're fault... if you hadn't helped i would have been killed." getting caught up in my emotions i grabbed her and pulled her over for a hug. she was surprised at first but hugged back. i could feel tears rolling down my face as well. "i wasn't going to stop that thing on my own... and if i didn't have the motivation to protect you i never would have found the strength to survive... thank you mystee." i said on the verge of crying.

"are... are crying." she said pulling away to look at me. she watched the tears rolling down my face and smiled.

"nopony has ever cried for me before... " she said. he smile was bright and warm enough to lift my spirits and make me smile too. "i'm just glad you're safe." she said crawling fully to the bedding and cuddling up to me. i laid down next to her and put one hoof over her.

"i'm glad we're all safe." i said.

"i'm also glad we made it." she said. i picked my head up in confusion.

"made it were." i asked her. she just smiled at me. i looked around the room and started putting the pieces together. "where in oasis." i said excitedly.

"yep... after the battle it took us another week to get out of the desert. and a few days to get to oasis... when we got here the markets broke up and different caravans followed and soon the whole convoy dispersed... we settled near a city and a family by the outskirts agreed to house you until you got better." she said.

"how long was i out." i asked.

" a little over two weeks." she said. i laid back and let out a sigh. not of relief or depression... just a sigh.

"atleast its better than two months." i said.

me and mystee laid on the bedding for a while until her family came up to see how we we're. after a bit of catching up and conversing we went downstairs to get some food. that's when i met the two ponies who took me in and housed me. an earth pony names isaac and his unicorn wife matilda. they were a very nice couple and offered me to stay one more night to rest up since it was close to night.

we all ate and i thanked them and offered to repay them in any way possible. after a bit of arguing they convinced me that they didn't want to be repaid at all. we all just laughed and ate. after dinner jericco and his family had to go... there wasn't enough room in the house for them. after they left i talked to isaac and matilda for a while about oasis before heading to bed.

i walked up the stairs and into the bedroom they gave me. i walked to the bedding and laid down. i closed my eyes and started dreaming. but it wasn't much of a dream. throughout the night my head was filed with random bits of information. each fact slowly passing by and burning the information into my head. they were random obscure facts but accurate. it was a long night.

in the morning i lazily walked downstairs early in the evening to be greeted my matilda who was home doing some cleaning. she offered me breakfast and some home brewed coffee. she gave me some cinnamon bread and coffee for breakfast. both the bread and coffee were delicious. i soon went back upstairs and got my gear ready.

i put on my armour and cloak. i then slung my saddlebag over my back and strapped it down. while fixing my armour i stopped when my hoof passed over something in my pocket. i reached into the pocket and pulled out the small red stone. i gazed at it for a few minutes like i expected it to tell me what it is. i even asked it.

"what are you..." i said staring at it. almost as if it did answer me, the red stone glowed a bright red and lit up the room. it glowed but only a second then stopped. i glared at it again and put it back in my pocket. i walked out of the room and downstairs. i got to the door and matilda noticed me with my gear.

"leaving already dear." she said. i looked back to her a smiled.

"yeah..." i replied. "i have important things to do..." i said.

"alright... take care." she said.

"bye." i replied waving as i walked out the door. i closed the door and got my first look at oasis. honestly i was awestruck. i imagined it would be mostly grassy field and farmland... this... this was different.

it was a huge forest. there were huge trees literally towering thousands of feet high... as tall as skyscrapers. somehow the sun shone brightly and vividly onto the land. there were smaller regular sized trees everywhere too. i looked around. the terrain was very hilly. some ponies built houses on the ground and others had their houses built into the giant trees. they had spiral staircases leading up to them. i saw farms that were growing exotic and colorful fruits and vegetables. this place was incredible.

i started walking down the small dirt path from the house. the path broke off to a larger road which lead to a bridge. it was a decorative bridge but it was just stone. it went over a large stream. i looked at all the other ponies who were on the streets too. they mostly didn't wear clothes but the ones who did only wore simple clothing. the clothing still had some gypsy resemblance.

this whole place was very in tune with nature. there were small animals like rabbits and squirrels running around everywhere. there were butterflies and bird's scattering the air and larger animals like some deer and foxes often came into view through thicker parts of the woods. there were all sorts of wild flowers and plants growing everywhere that i've never seen before.

i walked around a bit before i started to get tired. i found the nearest bench and sat down. i took off my bags and placed them to the side. i decided to put all my food back in the left pouch. i unclipped both pouches and started putting food back where it belongs. i finished putting the food back and almost closed up my bags when i spotted something. it was a large bottle of scotch. i picked it up and it had a note on it.

"Crimson... i'm not sure when you'll find this but when you might be needing it when you do... jericco." i took the note off and put it away. i uncorked the bottle and started drinking. i downed half of it in one fell swoop. i was surprised to see that i wasn't phased whatsoever by all that alcohol... a normal pony would be stone dead drunk by now. without question or hesitation i went to destroy the rest of the bottle when i was stopped.

"woah there stranger... might want to be a bit nicer to you're stomach." said a random stallion. i looked over and he was sitting next to me. i never noticed him sit down. i just smiled at my situation.

"sorry..." i said.

"don't be sorry at me... i should be sorry for you that you've got enough trouble to drink like this." he said.

"i'm just drinking to celebrate." i said. "if i was drinking to my problems then you wouldn't be able to see me past the beer bottles." i said. the stallion laughed.

"i'll take you're word for it." he said. "so what's the occasion... you one of them gypsies from the east that came in here a few days ago."

"actually yes..." i said. i was about to end the conversation so i could get on my way to the camp but i realized that i don't even know where the camp is. "you wouldn't happen to know where the camp is do you." i asked.

"already that drunk eh..." he said.

"i wish..." i replied rolling my eyes. "i was... well hospitalized for a while and just woke up in this town... last i remember we were still in the desert."

"remind me again why you're celebrating." he said. we both laughed. "just kidding." he said. "you're on the right track... just follow the main road out of town." he said. "it's gonna take you a bit but better than heading north to oak valley then into karvadan."

"what are those places." i asked.

"oak valley is basically the slums of oasis... nothing but thugs and gangs there...and karvadan is the main city... nopony goes in there from the outside unless they're looking for something, or looking to get lost."he said. "trust me."

"i'll take you're word for it." i said getting up. he stayed on the bench. i put my bag on and grabbed the bottle of scotch. it was a bit less than half empty. "thanks stranger." i said. i held out the bottle of scotch in front of him. "here do me a favor and finish this." i said smiling. he grabbed the bottle.

"sure thing." he said taking a big sip as i walked away. "happy trails."

"you too." i said and walked away i walked through the street for another couple of minutes. all the time i was waiting for that half bottle of scotch to hit me but it never did. i started to reach a hill. it went up a bit and i couldn't see much of anything but it didn't last long. soon enough i made it to the top and my stomach dropped.

i looked over the hill to the miles of houses and fields. and i saw in the distance a great wall with towers and battlements. this wasn't just some kind of small town... this was a kingdom. i looked over the miles of town and let out a sigh.

****i wish i had the rest of that scotch...

-Authors Note: just a quick chapter this time. i think it was important... i still have some of your PM's to go through. people have been asking me this but i'm not going to "fuck the shit out of mystee" as one person had suggested. you people ask me some strange shit. one of you guys wanted me to kill of rainbow dash... the fuck dude...the fuck. so yeah those things aren't happening... ever. i dont mean to crush your dreams... just your ideas. but i'm still open to suggestions on ideas and OC characters... I've already got one that has been suggested but i haven't used them yet... so keep reading, and stay shady sicko's-End of Note-


	71. Chapter 71: Night Life

**-WARNING-**

**The following chapter contains the written depiction of sexual and inappropriate material.**

**if you do not wish to read such things please uninstall Microsoft Windows from your computer and bury the monitor**

**if not then feel free to read ahead... you have been warned**

i slowly walked down the hill because it was quite steep and the bottle of scotch i had downed earlier was finally starting to get to me... but not as fast as i would have thought. it was barely even getting to me... just a light buzz. i got distracted by it a few times and almost bumped into a few ponies on the hill. that could have been pretty bad considering.

it wasn't long however before i reached the bottom of the hill and leveled out. i kept walking forward hoping that i could at least make it through the city without running into trouble but i don't always have that luxury. i always did have a knack for getting into trouble... ever since i was a kid. i was a good kid as far as other people let on but i was a bit mischevious. as a matter of fact the only reason i joined the army was because i lost to derek in a drinking game... i was still pretty drunk when i signed up and now its kicking my ass.

i started looking around at the town as i walked along. this place is very quaint. the houses a decently big and i haven't gotten a single dirty look from any random ponies. if i wasn't on such a huge mission i could probably stay here awhile... maybe i'll come vacation here sometime after all this is over. yeah, just me dash and the kids... we could bring a tent and stay by mystee's family.

i walked around a bit longer until i entered what i guessed was the market area. i could tell from the hundreds of shops. mostly farmers shops and general stores. a few blacksmiths and tailors here and there. and some places claiming to sell powerful and exotic items from across the desert. i decided to check it out... see what it's worth. the place can't be that bad. there were plenty of ponies buzzing inside and out of it.

i walked inside and looked around. there were shelves and stands put up all around the place. potions, spells, enchantments, magic objects and armour, even magic pixie dust. this place was full of crap. i almost bought the bluff but something strange rushed through my body. it was like i just knew what was wrong with all the things.

the potions were watered down, spells and magic scrolls were fake, armour was just iron painted over, and the pixie dust was just glitter and iron flakes... this place was an entire scam. i quickly left and didn't turn back. as i walked away the rush of knowledge drained out and i was just me again. just as perceptive as i was before entering. it was a strange feeling... but it felt natural. i decided not to worry about it and i just kept walking.

i continued through the market which was much larger than i anticipated. after a little bit i stumbled across a type of park. feeling a bit tired and restless i decided to head in for a quick rest and a bite to eat. i walked in and found a bench to sit on. the park was beautiful and full of ponies laughing and having fun. i looked around and my eyes caught a crowd of ponies gathered around a street performer.

i watched as the performer used some kind of magic to lift a chunk of dirt from the ground and float it in front of him. he concentrated and the rock started shifting and changing into a sculpture. he formed it into a sculpture of himself on his two hind legs ready to start running. it was quite impressive. i walked over to see what else he would do.

as i joined the crowd the rock was put into the shape of a sphere. from there he turned it into all sorts of things. animals, plants, objects and shapes. ponies from the crowd started firing out requests and he complied. for the finale he pressed the rock together and it burst into a flash of glitter and sparkles. the ponies smiled and clapped. they soon left. i could see the performer wasn't happy. i looked and he had a tin can on the ground... i guess he had expected some kind of payment. i pulled out a few silver and tossed them into the can. the clanking of metal turned his attention to the can, then at me.

"thanks stranger." he said smiling.

"not a problem... how'd you do that with the rock." i asked.

"it's just a bit of gypsy magic i've been practicing..." he said.

"really... i'm actually from the convoy that came here from the west... been looking forward to seeing other gypsies but so far you're the only one i've found." i said.

"well everypony here is a gypsy... we're an entire gypsy country... but we adapted more to civilization and most forgot the ways of gypsy magic... i'm one of few who remember." he said.

"so why are you on the streets begging for money." i asked.

"well unfortunately gypsy magic can't make me a house or job... just small sculptures." he said. i was about to say something when a heard a stomach growl. i thought it was mine for a second but i soon realized it was his stomach.

"i assume rocks don't make good sandwiches." i said smiling. he laughed

"i guess not..." he said. i went over to the nearby park bench and sat down and invited him over.

"here sit down..." i said. "i can give you some food." he smiled and walked over as i dug through my bag. he sat down and i handed him a wrapped sandwich. i got one for myself and we both started eating.

"this is very kind of you stranger..." he said. "is there somepony's favor you're trying to win."

"not exactly..." i said. "just trying to prove to myself that i'm not some kind of monster."

"you don't look like much of a monster to me..." he said taking another bite of the sandwich. i stopped feeling hungry and put mine down.

"well... looks can be deceiving." i said.

"hmmm... true." said the stallion. "but the kindness of giving is the kind of kindness that comes from the inside... not outside... so if anything you don't look like a monster on the outside and you don't act like one on the inside... so what does that make you..." he said speaking in some kind of fanciful riddle.

"i don't know... i wish i did but i don't." i said.

"don't worry friend..." he said. "the answers will come in time... they always do."

"thanks..." i said smiling again. we both finished our food and i said my goodbye's as i left the park. by the time i got out of the park and onto the main road again it was some time past three. i'm not sure why but somehow i could just tell by looking at my shadow on the ground. i picked my head back up and carried on.

i continued to walk through the streets and look around. there were houses and small convenience shops everywhere. there were large tree's growing everywhere and the ramps to the tree homes that connected at the streets edge. there were rivers and streams and plants and animals everywhere. looking around at this place had me thinking of my friends, fluttershy would love it here most. twilight could find a nice tree house to fill with books and read in silence. rainbow dash would have plenty of challenge flying around through the large tree branches.

pinkie pie would love to have a canopy party on top of the large trees... like a party in the sky. applejack could get a farm started here and grow the most beautiful apple tree's anypony has ever seen. and rarity... well that's a tough one to think of. the dirt and plants might not bother her but if it rains here then there would be mud... "EVERYWHERE"... she might not like that. and then derek would come just for the excitement and thrill... he would also come if he knew his friends were there.

getting lost in my train of thought i walked right into a street light. i hit my head and stumbled back in a daze for a few seconds before regaining my composure. a few of the ponies who saw that giggled to themselves and carried on. i hung my head low in embarrassment and kept walking until i was sure everypony that saw had passed by. i decided to focus on where i need to be so i don't fall down a well next time.

i looked forward down the road to see if i could spot the gates from here but there was no luck. i couldn't see much past the house sized tree's and other plants. i just kept walking down the large road. i looked up to the canopy sky and saw it was getting darker. there was less light shining through the large gaps in the leaves and tree's. it was like looking at a painting. there were green dots plastered everywhere in large bunches with a bright orange background.

i quickened up my pace and walked down the road a bit faster. i didn't wish to get caught outside during the night because i imagine being under this canopy it was going to be pitch black. as i trotted down the long road i also tried to search out for places to stay during the night. so far i couldn't find any places, and i couldn't tell if i was any closer to the end of the city, plus the sky was now a dark red to a near black... it was almost night.

i looked around to notice that there were more ponies on the street just lazily walking along. they were just taking their time and smiling while i was panicking and running along the road. i looked up at the sky and saw it was practically night. the little light that was left was soon gone. and everything was pitch black as i guessed. i stopped and sat there in the darkness. then there was a small light. then another... and another.

one by one the street lights started turning on. they glowed a shallow blue and barely lit anything up at all. the one next to me popped on and i was cast over with a blue light. then i noticed a few smaller blue lights appearing all around the place. and green ones and all colors. there were millions of lights everywhere. it was the forest... it was lighting up.

i stared in awe and gazed around at the incredible wonder. the trees had swirls of blueish green lights wrapping up them and into the canopy. the grass glowed a faint green and the plants and leaves started lighting up. lightning bugs filled the air and buzzed around. the place lit up and i could see everything... it was beautiful. it took me a few minutes to process all the colors and lights but i finally managed to get up and stand... and smile.

the other ponies walked around, some in groups or pairs. they conversed with each other and some even were going to a few restaurants that were scattered around the road. i felt something touch my shoulder. it was light and ticklish. i looked over to see what it was and i saw that it was a leaf. it was glowing a faint blue. i smiled and swept it off. it fell to the ground. the second it touched the ground it turned to blue glowing dust and sank into the ground.

then another leaf fell beside it and did the same then another... and more and more. i looked up to see leaves falling from the trees and scattering around...like snow. it was blue glowing snow. i looked up and smiled as leaves fell down and passed me by. i kept looking on until i felt a tap on my shoulder. i looked over only to see the stallion from the park. the sight of him made me smile.

"first night in the forest friend..." he said smiling.

"yeah..." i replied.

"i could tell from the look of awe on you're face... beautiful isn't it." he said.

"it is... i wish we had something like this back at my home."

"the leaves only fall like this during the winter. once the winter equinox begins the leaves fall... every night until the vernal equinox when we have our spring festival..."

"sounds like a lot of fun." i said. "too bad i'll miss it."

"how come friend..." he asked.

"i'm not really with the gypsy camp." i said. "they just picked me up and i hitched the trail with them."

"hmmm... where are you off to then."

"i'm on a quest... i didn't originally plan to come to oasis... but i'm glad i did." i said. "i was going to blackmarsh by passing through the weeping woods, but i fell ill on the road into the woods and a gypsy caravan picked me up and nursed me to health... i was already a few weeks into the desert so there was no point in turning back."

"that's quite the story." he said. "i bet you've got better stories than that though... like how you can see with you're bad eyes... or how you got those frost burns... especially that one on you're face." he said pointing them out.

"i was wondering when somepony would notice... trust me those are not my most interesting stories." i said.

"i'm sure... so where are you off to in the city."

"trying to get to the edge so i can regroup with the caravan... from there i'll head off to blackmarsh." i said.

"hmmm... you've got wings... why not fly."he said. i hadn't thought of that. i'm embarrassed to say but i completely forgot i had wings. i was about to say goodbye and just fly off right there... but for some reason i didn't feel like flying. my instincts were telling me that the ground would be a better path to take. thinking it over i quickly came up with a lie to tell the stallion.

"wish i could use my wings." i said. "but the left one broke in a sand scorpion attack..."

"nasty creatures sand scorpions." he said. "did you musk the convoy in vinegar."

"yeah we did... one of them got through anyway..." i replied. "i helped fight it off."

"not bad." he said. "so how many of you did it take to bring it down." he said. i also lied to protect the fact that i was the only one who really did any fighting.

"about 10 of us and about a gallon of vinegar..." i said. he laughed.

"yeah those fuckers are pretty tough until they get splashed with a bit of vinegar... then they crumble like dust." he said.

"so where are you off to in the city." i asked.

"well you did give me about seven silver back at the park... so i figured i'd have some fun tonight." he said. i smiled at him and rolled my eyes while we both walked together down the road.

"don't go spending all that money now..." i said.

"don't worry yourself stranger... in this town 7 silver will last you a month if you spend it carelessly... and three if you spend it cautiously" he said smiling still.

"i thought this place was a city." i asked.

"well it's a town... a city... and a country." he said. i raised an eyebrow.

"i don't get it." i said.

"it's like this." he said stopping. i stopped too. "where in the outskirts of karvadan... this is just the west side, there's the north south and the east. the city of karvadan lies at the center with the high-seers temple in the middle."

"high-seer?" i asked questionably.

"he's basically the king..." he explained. "now in between the sections of the outskirt towns are the projects and slums... that's we're most of the crime is organized... its also the reason the outskirt towns are divided... along with the four rivers that flow out of karvadan."

"so are all the outskirt towns the same." i asked.

"mostly yes." he said. "this town is an average class town... the north and east towns however are more wealthy... the south however is different because the entire city lies within the canopy above the ground... because of this however it is a low class town."

"the south seems very interesting... i wish i could see all of this city and the other cities." i said.

"there are no other cities." he said. "it's just this one city."

"theres only one city in the whole country." i asked.

"no... the city is the country." he said. my mind went blank for a second. the information given to me was too large and it caused my brain to crash for a moment.

"wait... this place can't be that big." i said.

"your five miles from the gates... technically right now you're considered to be just outside of the edge... reaching the inner city would be a 2 week journey." he said.

"holy crap..." i said.

"it is quite impressive i know." he said. that information made me start to question why i had been pulled through the city for five miles before somepony offered me aid... oh well. that's a question for some other time. i was still trying to configure this all.

"that's a lot to handle." i said.

"hmmm... i know. i've been meaning to ask... what are you doing so deep into the outskirts when the camp is outside of the gate." he asked.

"well i don't really know... during the sand scorpion battle i got stung and fell deathly ill from the poison... when i woke up i was inside the city... my friends left to head back to the camp yesterday and i left sometime this morning a couple hours before noon." i said.

"your friends may still be in the city... but will easily be back at camp before midnight." he said. "but it might take you another day to get back."

"you know..." i said. "i don't think i ever got you're name."

"my name is marcus" he said. "and yours.

"my names crimson." i replied.

"thats an odd name for a pony around this side of the world... where are you from." asked marcus.

"well i was originally from a small city in the far east... war drove me out of the country. while fleeing i heard tales of a great country named equestria not far from my home... curiosity drove me there and i stayed for a while... changed my name to crimson blast to blend in and settled down. i made friends got married and had kids... now i'm here believe it or not." i said summing up my life...mostly.

"equestria huh... i've heard about that place... a country completely powered by unicorn magic." said marcus. " that's quite a trip to come this far out from you're friends and family... must be an important quest." he said. "and to go to blackmarsh... if there's anything in there i'm sure it won't be easy to find."

"yeah... quest came from princess luna herself." i said.

"ah a princess." he said raising both eyebrows. "you must be a pony of great title and stature..." he said. "probably rich too."

"more or less... and definitely rich... though i don't spend my money often... it just sits there collecting dust... i've even brought some of it with me." i said.

"you brought a rock from the mountain of silver you got back home huh." he said.

"gold actually." i said. his eyes widened. "golden are a basic currency in equestria... an apple there is only one gold... a bit ridiculous if you think about it."

"well friend." marcus said putting a hoof around me. "i've met some interesting characters in my time... but you my friend are the most diabolically intricate and subtle pony i've ever seen... from the moment i saw you i had a feeling that only good can come of you."

"if you're buttering me up so i'll buy you a drink... it's working." i said with a smile. he laughed softly.

"it's the night my friend... there's no need in walking down this trail and tiring yourself out... come with me and i'll show you a good time." he said. i thought it over. i did want to get back to mystee and the others but it's been awhile since i've enjoyed the nightlife... this might be the only city where i can do that, why the hell not.

"alright sure..." i said. "if you show me a good time i'll pay for it."

"once again my friend... you've got goodness inside you." said marcus. "thats not something common around here." we both smiled and started walking. he led me through a few different roads and past other buildings. the streets were filled with more ponies than they were in the morning.

after a while we stopped in front of a building on the street. it had some flashy glowing signs on it. one sign that stood out from the others said: "bar, girls, and food.". i'm guessing this was some kind of strip club. i could hear music from inside and it sounded like some kind of digital techno music. i guess this place is a bit more advanced than i thought.

"hope you're comfortable with this place..." said marcus.

"is this a strip club." i asked.

"yeah it's a pretty hardcore one at that... but it's not mostly the reason i come here." he said. "i've got an old friend that works the bar here... she'll get us some drinks for a lower price... plus they make a soup here that is unlike any i've ever tasted."

"alright..." i said. "i'll give it a try." he smiled and gestured me inside. i walked up to the door but forgot to notice the large bouncer at the door. he stepped to the side and blocked me. he stayed silent for a second and glared at me. i just stared back. he lifted his head a bit and smiled.

"hey... marcus." he said. "how it going." his voice was very deep.

"hey brawl..." said marcus. this guys name was brawl... that's pretty sick. "don't worry about this guy... he's with me." brawl looked at me and smiled.

"alright guys..." he said. "have fun... say hi to vinny for me."

"will do." replied marcus and we both walked in. the music grew louder and there were lights flashing everywhere. there was a stage with a strip pole. there was a dancer up there practically fucking the damn pole... didn't have any clothes on at all and she looked like she was getting off too. wasn't a surprise to see a lot of stallions tossing coins into a bucket near the stage. the dancer even got close to the edge and started shaking her ass in front of them... i bit different than on earth.

marcus lead me to a bar that was by the stage but luckily we didn't have to look at the stage while we sat. we walked up and took our seats. i'm also glad the music isn't blasting at full volume so i can hear the ponies next to me. me and marcus sat down at the bar and a naked mare walked over. i'm sure she has to dress without clothes for her job but most ponies don't wear clothes so it wasn't that bad.

"hey vinny." said marcus.

"hey marcus." said the bar girl. i take it her name is vinny.

"brawl says hi." he said.

"as i expected." she said pouring a beer for another stallion at the bar who had his attention on the stage. "when you leave tell him he forgot his flask in the kitchen." she finished pouring the beer and placed it on the counter next to the other stallion. she turned over and set her eyes on me. "who's this."

"this my dear vinny." said marcus putting his hooves on my shoulders. " is the most interesting stallion in the world." i couldn't exactly disagree with that. "he's heroic, brave, courageous, strong,... and he's going to be paying for our drinks." he said with a smile. me and vinny both started laughing.

"i gave you a few silver in the park now you drag me here... how could you possibly know that much about me." i said jokingly. vinny laughed some more and so did marcus.

"don't be so harsh." said marcus. "i'm sure all those things are true."

"well judging from the scars, clothes, and the sword hilt sticking out of you're bag i'd say you're pretty damn interesting." said vinny. sword hilt?... i looked back to see my multi weapon was now a sword... i must have bumped it and it changed. i'm surprised i hadn't noticed. the moment however got to me and i pulled the sword out.

"woah friend." said marcus. "careful with that thing."

"don't worry." i said. "just making some space." i said. i pushed the sapphire on the hilt and the sword lit up turning into a staff. marcus and vinny stared in awe.

"woah." said vinny.

"see i told you... most interesting stallion you'll ever see." said marcus. i pushed the sapphire again and it warped into a bow this time. i put the bow back into the bag. it fit better in there. i put my bags down by the bar seat. marcus laughed. "full of surprises." he said.

"alright... i think that's enough of that." said vinny. "what'll it be first boys."

"two of you're most expensive drinks... and marcus tells me you're cook makes a pretty mean soup." i said.

"that he does..." she said. "is that it for now..." asked vinny.

"i think so." said marcus.

"be right back." she said leaving. she started pouring our drinks and i noticed as she was bending down to get the glasses and a few bottles marcus was checking her ass out. i turned away to the stage. there was a different mare up there this time. she was grinding her pussy right up against the pole. the guys in the crowd were still roaring and tossing up money.

there were a few other mares walking around and hitting on the other guys. a few guys were getting lap dances from the mares one other was being pulled into a back hallway. most likely full of private rooms for more... personal... lap dances. i turned back around to marcus who was still eyeing vinny whenever he could. after a bit she pulled up two large glasses of colorful drinks. she put them down and winked at us.

"drink up boys..." she said. "soups on it's way." with that she turned and left for the kitchen. she waved her hips seductively to the beat of the music. her tail swayed back and forth occasionally giving us both a glimpse of her privates. i'm not sure which of us she was trying to seduce or if it was maybe both of us but i think it was working better on marcus. as soon as she left i turned to marcus who had turned to his drink.

"so..." i said pulling my drink closer to me. "i couldn't help but notice you've got the hots for vinny." i said smiling. he just laughed silently and took a sip from his drink.

"well i can't lie to you there..." he said. he took another sip of his drink and i tried mine too. it was like somebody set off a landmine of fruit in my mouth. i can understand why this might be their most expensive drink. i eventually just took the straw out and downed the whole drink. marcus just stared at me strangely.

"what..." i asked. i soon figured out i had just downed a huge drink that was probably stronger than it tasted.

"well damn..." said marcus. "you're not going to tell me you've got the liver of a dragon."he said smiling still sipping from his drink. i just laughed silently.

"well i wouldn't say that... but i would figure that i'm more tolerable to alcohol than most ponies." i said. he smiled and started getting deep into his drink. not long after though vinny walked out with two hot bowls of soup.

"alright boys," she said. "soups...on?" she said strangely staring at my empty glass and then at me. i just smiled awkwardly. she put the bowls down and looked at me with a strange face. "i guess you were thirsty..." she said.

"yeah i guess... it was pretty good but can i get something stronger." i asked.

"stronger?" she replied with a question.

"don't worry about it..." said marcus. "this guy's got the liver of a dragon."

"alright." she said. she turned around and bent over to grab a bottle from under the wine and alcohol display. she stuck her ass right in the air for the both of us to see. i tried averting my eyes out of respect but i noticed marcus was staring. i could see a smile spread across vinny's face. i think she liked him too. she soon popped back up with a bottle of scotch. "here's some pretty strong scotch... you can have at the bottle." she said.

before i touched the soup she had given us i popped the top and drank a fourth of the bottle. she just watched and giggled. she walked back into the kitchen and i took another chug. i put the bottle down and tried some of the soup... it wasn't even soup. well it was... but it didn't taste like it. it tasted like somepony took a garden full of vegetables and spices and just liquified them. i started to gnaw down on the soup. me and marcus finished at about the same time.

"it's good isn't it." he said.

"it's the best soup i've probably ever had." i said. "thats not a joke, i'm being serious." he laughed anyway.

"yeah this is a pretty good bar..." he said.

"i never expected a pony like you to come to these bars." i said. "i always thought the gypsies that used their magic were supposed to be wise."

"it may not look like it." said marcus. "but most ponies take me for a worthless street performer with a few fancy tricks..." he said. "i am wise however, i'm wise enough to know that what i need in life is to be happy and have fun... and in this place i can be happy and have fun. i get to be with my friends vinny and brawl... sometimes other friends come here too. i other times i make friends at the bar or the park... like today i made friends with you... now where at the bar."

"i guess you're right." i said. i took another swig of the scotch and it was almost gone. "if you like vinny why not ask her out on a date or something." i said. "c'mon at least make a move... don't sit behind this bar and stare at her and dream."

"a mare like vinny wouldn't be very interested in me." he said. "besides i can tell that she likes you."

"are you kidding me." i said. "dude she's been shaking her ass in front of you're face all night... she probably does it every other night you come here too."

"she probably does that for the party." he said.

"dude the party's over there." i said pointing to the stage. "this is the bar and she's the bar mare..."

"you really think she likes me..." he asked.

"i know she likes you." i said. i put my hoof into my cloth money pouch and pulled out a hoof full of gold. i held it in front of him and his eyes lit up. "here take this... i'm sure it's a lot of money and you might be speechless, trust me i've seen it before... but you need this more than me."

"you're kidding me." he said. i looked at him dead straight in the eye. "you're serious..." he said looking at my eyes. he took the gold and held it. he smiled and put it in the pocket of his cloth long-coat. "thank you." he said. "i wish there was a better word to tell you how grateful i am but there isn't... so thank you."

"no problem." i said. "now c'mon my friend... the night is still young." he smiled and grabbed his drink. there was still a bit more than half left but he chugged it anyway, probably out of joy. i did the same and finished the bottle of scotch. soon after vinny walked back to the bar. she saw the empty bottle of scotch and walked over.

"you can't be serious." she said. "i was gone for less than five minutes and you've killed that bottle of scotch." she said.

"i'm just as shocked as you are... i can't even feel a buzz." i said. marcus just started laughing his ass off.

"i told you this guy was great." he said still laughing.

"alright tough guy." she said ducking under the bar. she shuffled around for a bit and came back up with a large bottle. "this is .90 proof vodka." she said. "this is basically a step away from rubbing alcohol." she said.

"are you proposing some kind of challenge." i asked getting up.

"yes." she said. "finish this bottle in three chugs and i'll personally give you a private ride." she said. i noticed that marcus had a strange worried look on his face. i smiled.

"tell you what..." i said. "i'll finish it in one... and if i do you give him a 'private ride'" i said with emphasis. marcus blushed and his eyes narrowed. vinny looked at him and smiled.

"alright." she said. before i got ready to drink a few of the ponies at the bar next to us overheard the conversation and started freaking out about it. on of them ran to the stage and gathered the other ponies there... even the strippers.

"guys check this out... some idiots gonna chug a bottle of vodka for a lap dance for his friend." he said to them. it was ridiculous enough to grab the attention of everypony and draw them over. soon enough everypony in the club was around me including the DJ. even the cook peared over through the kitchen window to watch.

most of the ponies started chanting and cheering as they crowded around me. at first it started off with insults about how i'm an idiot and that somepony better call the hospital... and they only got worse from there. i had a feeling they just came over to watch me drink myself into a coma. i gulped down any fear io had a grabbed the neck of the bottle.

i popped the top and raised it up. i looked over the crowd and brought the bottle down. i put it to my lips and slowly started tipping it up. as vodka started draining into my mouth i swallowed and made room for more. after a bit i had finished maybe one eighth of the bottle and still not feeling anything. the crowds mood towards me became less negative. they seemed to be in disbelief that i've already made it this far.

after another half a minute i had downed a third of the bottle. the crowd was cheering but it was hard to tell if they were still against me. i could start to feel a slight tingle throughout my body. if there was a better way to destroy you're liver and kidneys, this was it. after a few more seconds the bottle was more than halfway gone. the crowd was now cheering in my favor. and as i predicted they soon broke into a violent chant of "chug chug chug". i'm pretty sure the manager even came out to see what was going on in his club.

after a bit more there was only a little bit left in the bottle and i had a pretty good buzz going on right now. i could only imagine that i would end up pissing most of this out later. with only a little bit left i quickly downed the rest and gulped it down. it put the bottle back down on the counter and let out a large belch. the crowd was freaking out and roaring. even the Dj, cook, and manager. i fell back and sat down in the bar stool. i spun around to the bar and smiled at vinny.

"i think you owe my friend here a private ride." i said. she just smiled and accepted her defeat with pride.

"alright... a promise is a promise." she said. she walked around the side of the bar and over to marcus. the crowd had moved aside so she could get to him. she picked him up off the chair by the rim of his long-coat. he was blushing furiously. she just smiled. "well." she said. "lets go." she seductively carried him off to the back hallway and i laughed the whole time. soon the manager broke the crowd up.

"alright alright." he said. "c'mon it was fun but everypony back to work... and customers give the guy some air..." he said shooing them away. the strippers went back to work and the other ponies disbanded. a few left the bar and most of them went to the stage except for a two stallions that stayed at the bar to finish their drinks. "that was something kid... that should have killed ya." he said smiling.

"there are a lot of things that should have killed me... this was the easiest."

"well don't go passing out in the bar... bad for business." he said.

"i'll do my best." i said. nodded with a smile and walked away. he walked past the stage over to a door by the office. as the crew got back to work the music resumed and another mare took the stage. i turned and put my head on the bar. that wasn't as bad as i thought it would be... i just hope it doesn't decide to all hit me at once or then i'm in some real shit.

i rested my head on the bar and tried to clear my mind and think straight. i felt somepony put their hooves on my shoulders. i picked my head up and looked back to see one of the strippers smiling at me. she had a faint yellowish to tan coat with a dark brown mane and brown eyes.

"that was quite impressive." she said digging her hooves a bit into my shoulders. "that must have been hard and you feel so tense... here let me help you relax." she said massaging my back.

"oh god that feels great." i said putting my head down again. she rubbed her hooves over my shoulders and back and managed to work the knots out of them. i felt much more limber. though i doubt those knots were from drinking. i hadn't had a massage once since i came here to equestria and the rest of this world.. that means those knots are the accumulated stress of all the shit i've been put through since i got this body... damn it felt good.

she massaged my back for another few minutes before stopping. she grabbed the chair and spun it around. i quickly picked my head up to see her staring at me. she had turned the chair around. she smiled seductively and slowly climbed up onto my lap. i could see her that her pussy was very wet and it was pushing right up against my stomach.

"so handsome." she said. "is there anything else you need."

"well..." i said. "i really need to piss right now." she laughed and got off me.

"the bathrooms are over there." she said pointing to the side of the bar near some couches. i got up and walked over. i walked past a guy getting a lap dance on the couch and walked right into the bathroom. i walked to one of the stalls and sat down. the thing about being a pony is there are no urinals... i can see how it would be difficult. i remember my first time using a public bathroom here i noticed there were no urinals and freaked out because i thought i had gone into the woman's washroom... i soon learned though.

after pissing out both the fruity drink, a bottle of scotch, and the vodka i got up and splashed my face with cold water to try and shake off some of the buzz. i noticed that it was fading must faster than normal. i just hope the hangovers are less harsh or i think my head might literally explode. as i walked to the bathroom door i remembered that marcus and vinny are having fun in the back. the thought made me smile.

i walked out of the bathroom and over to the bar. on my way to the bar i noticed there were now three mares surrounding the seat i was sitting at. when one of them saw me she told the others and they all looked at me. i calmly walked back over and sat down. i was going to spin around and put my head to the bar until vinny and marcus get back but the three mares turned me around and smiled.

"have a fun adventure to the washroom." said the mare from before climbing back onto my lap.

"oh yeah... killed a dragon and everything." i said jokingly. all three of them giggled. the first mare got off a they all pulled me to off of the bar stool.

"lets go somewhere more comfortable." said the mare to my left. she had light brown fur and black hair. the other mare had white fur and bluish hair. they started pulling me and leading me over to one of the couches. they sat me down right at one of the corner sections. the mare with dark brown hair from before once again climbed onto my lap. the other two snuggled up to me on the couch.

"why don't you relax and let us help relieve you of you're stress." said the mare on my lap. she began to rub her pussy up and down across my lower body. i'm not sure i like what she meant by relieve me of stress. i was going to say something but strangely my buzz had started to get stronger. i was getting dizzy and lightheaded. i was now drunk.

i looked over past the mares and looked at one of the stallions getting a lap dance. i looked closer and saw that it wasn't a lap dance, but she was actually fucking him... oh god. if they allow this upfront, then what the hell goes on in the back. i felt a tingling sensation in my lower thigh i turned to see that the mare on top of me had started stroking my cock trying to make it hard. i tried to hold it back but she kept rubbing and my dick grew in size and stiffened.

"oh god he's so big." said the mare with the blueish mane. the other mare with the black hair reached over and started licking up my shaft. the others did the same and soon i was rock solid and ready to go, even if i didn't want to go. but my body was screaming yes and the vodka only made my body scream louder. i just sat back as the brown haired mare lifter her thighs up and planted her pussy right on top of my cock. she moaned a bit and finally fit it all in.

"oh god it feels so good." she said. "i bet you get all the mares." she said rubbing my chest. soon enough she started riding up and down on my cock. the other two sat next to me and toyed with me. they bit my neck and rubbed my chest. they even started trying to massage me. i can honestly say i've never experienced something like this... except that time with the mermaids, but that doesn't count.

she continued to ride on me for the next couple of minutes while the other two next to me just bit their lips and started rubbing themselves. the mare on me kept pushing up and down with her hips. it wasn't too long before i burst inside her. she moaned and pushed all the way down to try and soak up as much as she could but there was still a lot that spilled out. when she lifted herself off of me more cum spilled out of her pussy.

the mare with the black mane switched places with the other one and she took her spot on top of me now. i tried telling her to wait because i need my breath but she jumped right on top of my dick without hesitation. she came down a bit quick and she squealed a bit.

"ow that hurt..." she said.

"is he too big for you tulip." said the one with the blueish hair.

"no i just wasn't ready... but i am now." she said. and without a second to spare she started jumping up and down excitedly on my cock hoping for the same results the other mare got. while these mares were having fun with me i was fighting back the urge to kill over from the vodka. i'm sure by now it has all caught up with me by now because i've been feeling pretty wasted for the last three minutes. at least their pleasuring me can help distract me from the alcohol.

like the other mare this one rode on top of me for a solid five minutes before i felt a pressure welling inside of me. she tried her best to make it last by slowing her pace but that seemed to set me off some more. i let out a deep moan and shot my load into her. it wasn't as big as the last one but still a lot for her. she definitely seemed to be the younger of the three.

"oh god yes..." she said. she slammed down on my cock too and tried to soak up as much as she could. some still spilled out. she got off and switched with the last mare. she quickly grabbed my dick and shoved it right into her pussy. she made no time in getting down to it. the other two sat beside me and kept rubbing themselves and toying with me.

after another five minutes the blue maned mare was still going strong. i was still going strong too, surprisingly. she kept up for another two minutes and i could feel myself getting close. i closed my eyes and moaned. she smiled and lifted herself off of me until my cock slipped out of her pussy. she got onto the floor and picked my cock back up. she rubbed it with her hoof and licked it.

she licked around the tip and put her lips around the head. she then pushed down and stuffed it down her throat. it passed by her lips and she pushed down all the way to the bottom. she lifted up and started sucking away. she flicked her tongue around and massaged the base of my penis with it. i moaned again because i was close to bursting.

she kept sucking near the top while the other two leaned over and started licking around the base hoping to get some for themselves when i finally burst. i only lasted about another minute before i shot my load down the third mares throat. she wasn't able to hold it all in ad spurts of cum shot from the rim of her lips and leaked down my cock. the two other mare started licking it up greedily. when i finally finished my load the third mare gulped down the rest and the other two cleaned up the mess. she pulled her head back and my cock slipped out of her mouth. she smiled and climbed on top of me.

"that was probably the most fun with a stallion i've had in a long time." she said rubbing my chin with her hoof like i was a pet. to be honest i was a bit mad at these mares but i was too drunk and too exhausted to express it.

"don't be a stranger big guy." said the first mare. "come back and we'll be glad to serve you again." she said winking. the three of them got off of me and walked into the bathroom. i quickly did the same and ran into the stallions room. i rushed in and stopped at the mirror. i looked over myself. i was a mess. i quickly cleaned up and tried to look like i just didn't have sex with three mares.

i splashed my face with cold water multiple times and cleared my mind. i was still pretty drunk but it was beginning to fade a bit. i stayed in the bathroom for a bit and washed my head under cold water while waiting for the afterglow to wear off. when it did i dried my head with a towel hanging up and cleaned off. i felt like i needed to throw up but i didn't have to... it was just the dry heaves.

after i cleaned up i walked out of the bathroom. i shamefully walked over to the bar and took my seat. i sat down and noticed that marcus was back. he was smiling and drinking a beer. he looked at me and smiled even more. he slapped me on the back hard and i almost puked.

"i owe you many things my friend... thank you for working you're way into my life." he said.

"your happy." i said still choking back the urge to throw up. i was starting to sweat and i had an itching sensation all over my body.

"and you're not..." he said. "is something the matter."

"yeah" i said. "i think that vodka is catching up to me..."

"hmmm... it's more than that." he said. almost on cue the mares washroom door opened and the three strippers walked out all freshened up. they were laughing and gossiping. turned my head to avoid them. "ah..." marcus said reaching some sort of conclusion in his head. "one of those girls decided to have some fun with you."

"no..." i said.

"two of them?..." he said surprisingly and questionably.

"nope..." i replied. he peered at me for a minute then at the girls.

"your joking... all three of them." he said in shock. i didn't reply but i did nod, yes. "and you're feeling bad because you're married." he said. i nodded again. "it's alright my friend... you're secret is safe with me." he said.

"i know..." i said. "i still feel bad about it."

"uh,oh." said marcus.

"what." i asked. but before marcus could answer i felt a pair of hooves on my back... uh,oh.

"hey there handsome..."said a new voice. "i saw crystal, tulip, and sunny having some fun with you... maybe you and i could go somewhere more, private." she said still rubbing her hooves on my back.

"no thank you." i said. she leaned over and started talking near my ear.

"i won't charge you... my treat." she said.

"uhm crimson..." said marcus whispering over. "this is the manager's daughter."

"that's right..." she said. "i could get you free drinks and a show for the rest of the night."

"please go away." i said.

"c'mon you haven't even looked at me..." she said with a tinge of impatience in her voice. "i'm sure you'll like what you see." i turned around to see her. she was a young mare with long blonde hair, a skinny body, and a light brown coat. she also had a lot of makeup on.

"i've asked nicely... please leave me alone." i said also with a hint of impatience in my voice mixed in with some sullen rage.

"you're kidding..." she said. "you would turn ME down?"

"i just did..." i said. she pouted.

"we'll see about that." she said and walked away. i turned back to the bar and looked over at marcus and vinny who had just walked in.

"what happened." asked vinny watching the managers daughter walking away.

"crimson just turned the managers daughter down." said marcus. vinny seemed shocked.

"nopony turns her down... and nopony ever has." she said. "the rest of us girls don't like to talk about this but she is the most spoiled brat i've ever seen... she watches the other girls have fun with the stallions then goes after them... she's the smartest most spoiled bitch i've ever seen." she said.

"i'll take my chances." i said.

"you might have to friend." said marcus looking behind him. before i could respond i heard a voice behind me.

"what seems to be the problem here." said a familiar voice. i looked back to see it was the manager. standing next to him was his daughter with an evil grin on her face... she went to daddy.

"no problem here." i said turning around. i looked at him straight in the eye and he looked into mine. his eyes opened a bit and he smiled.

"look honey." he said. "his visions bad... he probably didn't even see what you looked like." she peered over at me and looked at my eyes.

"oh..." she said. "well if you want to know i'm-" i interrupted her.

"i know what you look like." i said. "your small, light brown coat, long blonde hair and blue eyes..." i watched them both stare at me in disbelief and confusion. "i can see just fine... and believe it or not the answer is still no." i could tell the daughter was getting a bit steamed but the manager was calm. he walked up and tried to barter with me.

"look guy... i like you." he said. "i can set you and you're friend here up with free drinks and food for the rest of the night along with a private dance from all the other girls..." i was getting mad myself that he was trying to push his daughter onto me. what is wrong with this place... why would he even let his daughter work here. i stepped up to him and held my chest out. i don't think he expected me to be much bigger than him.

"look," i said. "i'm not sure if you two both missed the part of school when they explained the definition of low, or if you're heads are too thick to process the information but it's not going to happen..." he was a bit awestruck and so was the daughter. "if you think being the manager of this place is supposed to make me scared it's not working... i can be much scarier and threatening than you could even think. that is both a threat and a promise."

"who do you think you are." the manager said shoving me back, but i didn't budge. instead i glared at them and my eyes faded and started glowing black.

"i am many things." i said. my voice had a demonic undertone. "but tonight i will be you're nightmare." i said. as i finished the sentence all the light in the club faded until there was only a void-like darkness. the other ponies looked around in fear as well as marcus and vinny. even the music stopped and had been reduced to static.

"brawl...BRAWL." yelled out the manager. he was calling for his bouncer. soon enough a door shaped hole opened in the darkness to reveal the world outside. the bouncer walked in and closed the door. he looked around and stared in confusion. i turned my attention to him.

"what the hell..." he said gazing around.

"don't just stand there get this freak out." said the manager pointing at me with one hoof while trying to protect his daughter. the bouncer made his way over to me and stood only a few inches taller than me.

"sir i'm going to have to ask you to leave." said the bouncer. now i could throw him around and instill more fear but i don't have a problem with the bouncer... it is his job after all.

"i was just about to." i said. the darkness around faded and the lights returned. still wanting to instill fear i used my magic to summon two shadows to pick my bags up and put them on me. the initial reaction was awe but quickly faded to fear. i saddled up and started walking out the door. the only pony not terrified was marcus.

"you... you freak." said the manager. "stay away from this place forever." he said. i just laughed with my demonic sounding voice.

"i'd be glad to." i said. i walked to the door but stopped before leaving. i looked back to marcus and vinny. "thank you viny for the drinks." i said she just stared. "and thank you marcus for the good time." i said. he smiled and held up his glass of beer i nodded and left. i exited the club and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

i phased through multiple shadows and darknesses before reaching an alleyway close to the main road. i popped out of the darkness and set my things down... i guess i'll be sleeping homeless tonight. i set my stuff down and pulled a blanket out of my bag. i placed it down and curled up on it.

having been completely exhausted from today, i found no trouble in falling asleep quickly. i thought to myself about everything that happened today before drifting off into my own dream land. it had been a while since i had a good time. and i hope that tomorrow i can make my make my way to the gypsy camp and find mystee and her family.

****i'm going to have the worst hangover...

-Authors Note: got up early then pulled an almost all nighter getting this story done... sometimes makes me think what humanity would be reduced to if we didn't have coffee or monster energy drink. to be honest i did have this whole thing written down and planned but that all got fucked eight chapters ago... so I've been practically winging it. i did however keep the gypsy caravan idea to the side to use. I've also got to tell you guys that writing these sex scenes isn't as easy as it looks. i try my best to make it sound a least disgusting as i can but it's hard... anyway i hope you guys liked this chapter and keep reading, oh and Stay shady...that too-End of Note-


	72. Chapter 72: Christmass Dreams

I woke up several times during the night only minutes apart just to see strange shadows pass me by it he alley. The light from the glowing woods was peaceful and helped me settle back to sleep. I would close my eyes and fall asleep and dream of something different every time. The night felt like it was lasting forever.

I woke up and looked around in the dark alleyway. There where no more shadows passing me by. I guess even the nightlife has to end at some point. I put my head back down on my bags which. Was using as a pillow. I closed my eyes and gently drifted back to sleep. I had a hard time fully drifting off to sleep but I finally did.

I dreamt that I was in my bed... My actual bed at home on earth. I woke up and looked around. I was in my jeans and had a black T-shirt on. I looked to the window by the bed and it was snowing outside. I walked over to see that it was really snowing heavily. That's something different for Arizona. We haven't had this much snow in decades.

I heard a bit or banging coming from downstairs. I looked back to the bed to see that my wife was not there. The blankets had been tossed aside and wrinkled up. I looked over to the digital clock. It was barely past seven. I walked to the door and out to the hallway. I took a deep breath and the smell of pine was heavy n the air. It was a familiar smell... It felt festive.

I made my way to the stairs and slowly walked down to the bottom floor and into the lobby. I heard some more rustling in the living room and familiar laughter. I could hear the sound of tearing paper and the sound of bells. I walked quietly over to the living room.

There was a large pine tree sitting in the middle of the room. It was beautifully decorated with ornaments, candy canes, and white lights. Underneath it was lying a cascade of colorfully wrapped presents and gifts. None of which had been opened yet. I looked around and nobody was here. There was no expat nation for the laughter and sound of gifts.

I looked over to the right of me and saw the fireplace. There was a roaring fire lit up in the fireplace that warmed the room and gave it a cozy feeling. Above it where hanging three stockings all labeled with names, Alex, Linda, and Sarah. The stocking where full of different gifts and small wrapped presents.

I could feel the warmth of the fire hitting me and i stepped back. I stumbled over and landed on the couch sitting down. I didn't argue with falling onto the couch and remained seated. I looked out the large bay window to the outside of the house. It was a vast wasteland of snow and christmas decorations. There was even a snowman. It was a poorly done snowman so I guess to must have been Sarah with a little help from her mom perhaps.

I looked back over to the tree. To m surprise I saw my little Sarah sitting there with a big wrapped present in her hands and a smile on her face. She was in her pajamas which ironically was a my little pony onesie.

"Go ahead and open it honey." Said a voice next to me which startled me a bit. I looked over to see Linda smiling at Sarah. Without hesitation Sarah started to rip away at the boxes wrapping. Linda looked back over to me and smiled. "This is the nicest Christmas we've had so far." She said.

"Um... Yeah, it is isn't it. " I replied. Linda leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. She shuffled over and say up against me. She grabbed my hand and held it tightly. Her hands where warm and soft. She rested her head on my shoulder and smiled as she watched Sarah unwrapping presents.

"Oh my gosh..." Said Sarah getting a look at her gift.

" what is it sweetie." I asked happily.

" it's a new room for my doll house." She said excitedly.

"Did you ask Santa for that this year." Asked Linda still smiling. Sarah shook her head and put the box down and went to go find another present. I watched her walk over to the boxes and start sorting them out someway... Like she was looking for something.

I didn't care however I just smiled. I'm not sure if this is a dream or if I was dreaming before this. I didn't want either of these to be dreams but at the same time i did. I've grown too attached to both worlds that I'm stuck. I don't want to leave my family but I don't want to leave Equestria either. Before I could think further I was interrupted.

I looked down to see Sarah standing in front of me with a small wrapped box in her hands. It had a red wrapping with green ribbon and a bow. She smiled and held up the box to me.

"Here daddy..." She said. "This ones for you."

"Oh... Did Santa get me something too."I asked looking at Sarah with a smile. She shook her head and stepped back a bit. I looked over to Linda and smiled knowing she was responsible for this. I pealed over a bit of the wrapping paper and started unwrapping the gift.

After I tore off all the paper I looked at the gift. It was a small necklace box. I opened it up and looked inside. There was a small circular locket fit inside the box. I took it out and held it up. I opened up the locket and looked inside. There where two pictured. One of me and my family and on of just Linda and Sarah. I smiled and gave my wife a kiss.

I spent the rest of the times smiling and watching my little Sarah laughing and opening gifts and presents. She opened up all of her presents and even Linda got to open some. By the time we where finished there was one more left. It was a perfectly square box with a bow in it. It was a solid black box with red ribbon and a red bow.

"Did you put that gift there." Asked Linda worryingly. I looked back over to her.

" no I didn't." I said. Sarah walked over to the box and picked it up. She looked at it and found a tag. She picked it up and looked at it. Then she walked over here.

"Here daddy." She said." It's for you."

I picked up the box from her hands and looked at the tag. The writing was evil looking and written in red ink. I carefully looked at the box and slowly opened it up. I looked inside and there was nothing but darkness. The box soon became violently heavy and fell to the floor in the middle of the three of us.

The darkness inside of it started leaking out and slowly covered the room like water. I sat there unable to move. Same with Linda and Sarah. I was scared out of my mind but Linda and Sarah stared at the darkness without emotion. I tried to speak out and talk to them but. Couldn't make any noise. Soon enough the darkness pread around and flooded the house. Eventually there was no more light and I was drowning in darkness.

I couldn't move or breathe or even see. I struggled to try and break free of whatever was keeping me in place but I couldn't. I tried to clamor back to my family and see them one last time but I couldn't. Just as I thought I was about to pass out I had to breathe. I let in a huge breath of air and sprung back to life. I was in the alleyway again.

I looked around and nothing changed. The trees where still aglow with lights and the falling leaves s reminded me so much of snow. If I wasn't wrong today should be December 25th. It's Christmas. Too bad this world doesn't celebrate it, but they do celebrate hearths warming on the 31st, which is like christmas.

I looked up into the brightly lit sky and smiled as memories of my family soon started to flood into my head. I laid my head back down and closed my eyes. I couldn't go to sleep now because for some reason I was excited. Like a kid before christmas. But I don't have much to be excited bout. But I don't care, I'll take any happiness I can get.

Merry Christmas everypony.

-Authors Note: Merry Christmas. This will be the last chapter I post for a bit. Gunna pick it up after the holidays. I hope you guys like it and make sure to have fun. So have a very mery Christmas you magnificent bastards. And stay shady- End of Note-


	73. Chapter 73: On The Road Again

i woke up later to the sun shining right in my face through a break in the canopy. i slowly woke up feeling very drowsy and quite hungover. i managed to pull myself up and clean up my things. i do feel a bit bad about what happened last night. i guess i just made another drunken mistake...but i'm not sure if it was a mistake. i'm still amazed at how that bottle of vodka didn't kill me... i guess i'm just more tolerant to the stuff. i should probably keep heading towards mystee and her family.

i sloppily walked out of the alleyway and into the main road. not a lot of ponies questioned or stared at me as i walked out hungover and sloppy looking. i guess they didn't care. neither did i. i just kept walking down the street and hoping that it wouldn't take me forever to get there. that stallion from last night told me that it would take me all day and then some to get to the camp... i'm hoping that he's wrong but i doubt it.

"hahah... it's you..." said a voice from behind me... oh god no. i turned to see the face of the stallion last night and he was with the bar-girl. they were smiling and walking up to me. i tried my best to put on a smile.

"i told you he would stay by the main street." said the stallion.

"hey marcus... sup vinny." i said.

"your up awfully early for the night you had." said vinny.

"no..." i said. "it can't be early can it."

"yep... almost seven thirty." said marcus. i was about to reply when my head started pounding ridiculously hard. this was one of the worst headaches i've had in a long time. it almost brought me to my knees. i grit my teeth and put my hoof on my head to try and reduce the pain. it wasn't working.

"oh god... my head." i grunted out.

"that's why we're here." said marcus. "we figured you'd be hurting' in the morning so we tried to find you and help cool down that hangover of yours."

"thanks..." i said. "but i'm fine."

"no you're not... lets go." said vinny walking over to me and grabbing my arm. she kept walking and dragged me with her. marcus came over and helped. through a team effort they managed to drag me away to god knows where. i didn't really put up a fight... i didn't have the energy... i almost started falling asleep, i was so tired.

after a couple of minutes they dragged me to some store. it was more like a cafe than a store. they sat me down at a table and vinny went to the counter to order. it was just me and marcus at the table... hell we were practically the only ones in the cafe. there was just one other stallion eating in the corner.

"so you caused quite the scene last night... mind explaining what that was." he asked. i let out a sigh.

"do i have to." i asked.

"in most cases no..." he said. "but not this one... i'm making you tell me... now what was that." he said glaring at me. i could tell he was serious, but it might be better if he didn't know the truth.

"lets just call it... an acquired skill." i said. "one that is much deeper than you could hope to imagine."

"i can get that you have you're secrets but at least tell me the gist of it." he asked.

"i hope you realize how much of a difficult question you're asking."

"well i don't care... now tell me." he said. i could tell he really wanted to know. i was about to start talking when vinny came back over with a tray of food and drinks.

"alright here we go guys." she said putting the tray down. she handed out the food and drinks. she handed me some fruit and a bottle of water. i was a bit disappointed with the meal. "here crimson... this will help you get over the hangover."

"thanks vinny." i said taking the food. i twisted off the cap for the water and drank from it. i finished at least half the bottle then put it down. i watched vinny and marcus start to eat their food. vinny stopped eating and looked over to me.

"so crimson." she said. "me and marcus want to know what that was last night... you know making the lights go out and the shadow things... what type of magic was that."

"like i told marcus..."i said. "its something better left secret"

"it probably is but i want to know anyway." said marcus. "so tell us."

"and if i don't." i said. "what if i run."

"we'll follow you." he said.

"do you think it's that easy." i said spreading my wings which were much better now. "i'm pretty fast after all."

"so you really aren't going to tell us." said vinny disappointingly.

"no..." i said. "it's better this way, trust me." marcus let out a big sigh and smiled.

"alright... i guess i really can't make you tell us." he said. "but i'll be damned if i'm not going to try and figure it out on my own." he said. i just smiled and went back to my meal. we all ate our food and talked about other things. nothing very interesting just our lives and stuff. after that we headed out the door and went our separate ways.

i was off to the gypsy caravan and the vinny and marcus were off to go do other things. we said goodbye and parted ways. that will probably be the last time i ever see them... but they act like they could just come and see me whenever... just like my other friends.

realizing this i started to consider all the people i've met that i'm never going to meet again. hrothar and kroger in indigo city... marcus and vinny... those travelers in the woods... even mystee and her family. after i leave i'm probably never going to see them again. that's definitely something to think about. and i did think about it.

i thought about that for at least three hours as i wandered aimlessly through the giant city and down the large road. it seemed to stretch on for miles and miles and without any trace of an end. there were many times when there would be large trees growing in the middle of the road or a tunnel that was just a series of large roots arching above me. even a lot of bridges where there were large rivers cutting through the town.

i kept my head down and never took the time to take in the beauty of the town. it was just passing me by while i concentrated on thinking about my life and my influence on the people i've met. sometimes i wish that there was an easier way to meet them all... and if there was an easier way then i wouldn't hesitate to use it... but there isn't.

i understand that there are quick means of travel like boat or even airships. but those don't travel out of equestria. and there's always the means of teleportation. but i don't think even celestia herself could teleport over a distance as great as that.

i kept thinking about that for a while until i finally pulled myself from the thought. when i looked up i could see huge walls over in the distance. they were close and i knew i was near the edge of the city. i picked up the pace and started to gallop over to the gates and started running down the road. i was getting excited. i looked up in the sky for a minute to see more time had passed than i thought.

it was getting dark and soon enough it would be night. i didn't let that bother me however. i just kept running and watched as the gates grew closer and closer... but they were still far away. it wasn't long however until the path narrowed out and i could see the exit. it was an arch between two large trees and the branches formed a bridge. it was quite the sight.

it kept running until i was right at the exit. i slowed down and started walking again. i got to the exit right as the sun had gone down and darkness washed over the whole town. i stopped where i was and waited for the lights to shine from the trees.

it didn't take long before a few faint glows filled the darkness and grew brighter as more and more lights started flickering to life. soon enough the forest was aglow again with multicolored lights and glowing life. i could see the leaves from the trees start to fall and turn to glowing dust on the ground like snow. it was beautiful. the arch in front of me had a beautiful and symmetric design to it and seemed to glow brighter than the rest of the trees.

i slowly walked through and passed under the glowing bridge. it was as thick as the trees and glowed brightly. i finally managed to walk past it and out of the village. i was finally out. there was a main road that lead out into a thick forest. i smiled and started walking forward. i walked past trees and plants and flowers all glowing differently but vividly. i knew that this is probably the most beautiful thing anypony could ever see in their life.

i kept walking and walking and it felt like i was walking for hours but i doubt it was that long. i soon came to a break in the road. there we're two signs put up. one of them was very fancy looking and the other was just a hunk of wood nailed to the sign post. the more appealing one said "northern oasis- 4 days travel" i looked over to the other sign and it read: "gypsy camp- 5 miles"...

****oh boy...

-Authors Note: i'm sorry for how short this chapter is. it was supposed to be longer but i'm getting really sick... i would have posted more but i feel like shit. so i'll make this a 2 part thing... but the reason i'm posting this at all is because i wanted to tell you guys that i hope you had a wonderful Christmas... or Hanukkah... or whatever it is you celebrate... i just hope it was great... i'll probably see you guys sometime next year... so be patient...and stay shady.-End of Note-


	74. Chapter 74: Every Rose Has It's Thorns

I was far too excited to let a mere five miles stop me from going. But I do remember that guy telling me it was just outside of the city... Lying bastard. Oh well. I don't want to be angry right now... I'm too excited to be angry. But I'm sure it's going to be a long walk... I kind of... Wish I had my iPod with me. That would be really nice.

Look at me. I've been here for almost 4 years and I still miss my other worldly possessions. Well who wouldn't I guess. It would be nice to listen to my music and just think about stuff while I just walk. I can't really do much so I just put my head down and started walking.

After a few minutes of walking the gate had disappeared past the large trees but the large wall was still partially visible from where I am. The road however is riddled with plants and roots running past from the trees. It's quite nice. Reminds me when my father used to take me camping all the time and we would hike up the forest to the camp ground.

" _shadows... To the shadows..._"

"Huh... Who's there." I said. There was a strange voice talking to me. Telling me things. It sounded close too.

_"Now... Quickly, disappear... To the shadows adventurer... Hide... And wait._" Said the strange voice again. I didn't know what to do but I felt like I should do it. I ran off to the side of the road and his inside one of the thick bushes. I also used my powers to blend in with the darkness. I waited but nothing happened.

I looked back and noticed a light at the end of the path. It was two ponies walking from the city. They were in armored uniforms and one had a lantern. They started talking but I couldn't hear. When they got a bit closer I could start making out what they were talking about.

" so what's the deal with this camp..." Said one of them.

" apparently they were raided by the bloodclaw bandits and their camp was destroyed. They tracked through the desert to get hear... The least we can do is help."

" yes but now this talk of a plague... I don't like it."

" just be glad they sent us in there with magical protection from the stuff." It was at this point they were right in front of me. There armor was purple looking with gold decoration. I don't remember ever seeing any guards around the city if that's what they are.

" yeah all right."

" c'mon... I heard these gypsies make good food... I can't wait to warm my belly with some stew and mead."

" sounds promising." The other one said. With the thought of food and

Beer in their heads they started running down the path and quickly vanished past the trees and darkness. I waited a bit longer and slipped out of my hiding spot.

What was this talk of plague. I hope everything is alright. I hope mystee and her family are doing well and aren't sick. I anypony could fight off that kind of stuff I'm sure mystee and her family could do it... And what was with that voice earlier. I looked around. Nopony was around... I was alone.

I kept walking but I let my senses stay sharp just in case something else should happen. I looked up into the canopy sky and watched the leaves fall like snow. Once again I was lost in the beauty of the forest. It is certainly a magical place... But the folk here are a bit different for a place like this. I figured this would be like a place for Druids or nomads. People very inclined to nature and completely peaceful.

The gypsies here aren't what I expected them to be like. There more modern and civilized now... In their own way. I haven't seen it but I could feel a certain gypsy magic to this place however so there's no mistaking that.

" Oh GOD HELP... Some pony... HELP"

"_ quickly adventurer... MAKE HASTE._" Without even bothering to think I did what the voice said and I started running as fast as I could down the road. I saw a small light and ran faster. What I saw next wasn't pleasant.

It was one of the guards he was being attacked by some kind of vine. It was black and had sharp barbs on it. It was wrapped around the back hoof of one of the guards and was pulling him into the darkness of the forest. It had also wrapped around his arm and across his shoulder and chest. He was bleeding a lot.

Without thinking I used my magic and quickly called over several shadows. They cut the vines ensnaring the guard the there was an evil hiss that emanated from the woods. I could feel a dark presence flourish... Then leave. The vines that were severed and tangled around the guard started drying up and turned to ash. The guard started breathing heavily.

I looked over and to my displeasure I found the other guard. He was hanging from a tree with those vines wrapped around his neck. The barbs from the vine had probably shredded his neck and severed his jugular. There was blood everywhere. He must have died from both suffocation and blood loss.

" thank you adventurer..." Said the guard." Thank you." I turned to him as he held his neck trying to catch a breath.

"Are you alright." I asked.

" I'd be lying if I said yes... But I could be worse... Thank you again." He said. I smiled. His hind leg was torn to hell and he had moderate tears and cuts where the vines latched on.

" do you know what that was." I asked.

" I wish I knew... But it obviously wasn't friendly." He inched forward and tried to stand up. I put my hoof out and stopped him.

" I wouldn't even try standing." I said. " you'll never do it with that leg." He looked back a retched at the sight of his leg.

" you... You're probably right..." He said. I sat down and took my bag off. I remember seeing a medkit in there. Jericco must think i am blind to not notice. I reached in and fished it out.

" here ... Lets dress the wounds." I said." I'm heading to the gypsy camp so I can carry you with me." The guard just smiled. I grabbed my sack of water and the first thing I did was treat his leg. I cleaned it with water and used some rubbing alcohol in the medkit to clean it further.

I poured the rubbing alcohol onto the leg and he started yelling and howling in pain. He did handle it quite well though. After that I used the gauze wrap in the bag and dressed the wound.

After the leg was done I made my way to the other wounds. I checked them over and they weren't as bad. I cleaned and wrapped them anyway. I finished and packed up the rest of the medical supplies. I put them in my bag and pulled out a small bottle. They were painkillers.

" here" I said handing him the pill and my sack of water. " it's a pain killer... It should help." He reached out and grabbed the pill and the water. He put the pill in his mouth and took a sip of the water to help it go down.

" thank you stranger." He said. I was about to speak but I was interrupted by a rustling sound behind us. We both turned our attention. I looked back to se the body of the guard swaying gently from the tree. The dripping of his blood making a crimson puddle on the ground and a rhythmic sound. Suddenly however the vines holding him up jerked and the corpse bounced.

I slid back a few inches and the guard was lightly quaking in fear. I was ready for another fight. The vines jerked again...and again. Soon the body was quickly pulled up and flung over the branch it was hanging on and onto the ground. It hit the ground with a wet slap and his eyes met mine. They were wide and blank, they were milky and pale... Like a dead fish. So however the vines jerked again and pulled the body into the darkness. I waited a minute and stood up.

" I think we should get going." I said. The guard just nodded. I walked over and put my bags on. Then I walked to the guard and hoisted him onto my back. He was a bit heavy but I couldn't feel any weight coming from his armor... It was light as a feather. I didn't question it but I tracked on through the forest.

I spent the next 2 hours dragging this guard through the forest wondering if those strange vines might attack us again. Carrying him wasn't much of a problem but it was tricky trying to step over the huge roots of the trees protruding from the path. Some of them were really high and difficult to traverse, but it wasn't too hard.

About half an hour into the journey from the accident the guard had fallen asleep and was now quietly sleeping on my back. Good... He needs it, but I should wake him when we get there so we can find a doctor. He had also began to bleed on me. His blood had started to leak through the bandages around his chest and shoulder but I double wrapped his leg. But there was still a faint red stain showing through some places on it.

_"Behind you... Quickly..._" Said the strange voice again. It seemed muffled and ethereal. I headed its advice and quickly turned my head. Behind me where several barbed tentacles waving in the air. They were inching closer but stopped when I looked at them. I got ready to attack but the pulled back into the forest. " stay sharp... Be keen... Never trust the shadows you know so dear... You're not the only one... That hides in the night."

I kept walking and trying to think about this strange voice I hear. It sounds like no other voice I've heard before. I would sometimes on the way to the camp try to talk to the voice and ask it questions. I never got a reply. I'm sure if other ponies could se me they would think I'm crazy or insane. But I also thought that maybe I'm the only one who can hear the voice... With that in mind I tried talking to it with my thoughts... Still with no avail.

After a little bit I decided to look up to check where I am and I could see a faint light shining through some trees and bushes off in the distance. I smiled and tried to speed up without having the guard fall off my back. But I was going fast enough that I broke past the trees and saw the camp. It looked amazing.

There was a clearing where there were fewer trees than usual and mostly grassland that had been transformed to the needs of the city. There were already dirt roads on the ground and it looked like a presentable town. There was also a moderate sized lake off in the distance that was glowing brightly like the other lakes or streams.

There was a beautiful waterfall running into the huge lake and it poured out into a river that cut across the camp. It was quite impressive. I could hardly wait so I started my way in. I looked around and saw ls posts with small glowing offs giving off a great amount of light. as i grew closer i could start to see other ponies walking around.

It wasn't long until I actually got into the small town and started walking around. I stopped and nudged the guy on my back and he sputtered to life. He still seemed tired and rather dazed. He was probably suffering from blood loss so I should get him to a doctor.

"Huh... Wha..." He murmured. I smiled.

" hey where here..." I said. " let's see if we can't get you a doctor."

"Alright... " he said. Closed his eyes again trying to rest up. I just looked forward and kept walking. I was surprised though. I was sure that somepony would at least try and see What was wrong with him or offer help. But they just looked and minded their own business. They seemed different however... The townsfolk.

I looked over at them and most of them were perfectly fine and healthy while others were grey and sickly looking. They had no color to them and they were coughing. The healthy ones eagerly avoided the sick ones. I fear this talk of a plague may not just be a rumor. But soon one of the sick ponies came up from behind me.

" are you looking for a doctor." She said. Her voice was dry rashy and dry. She had some mucus dripping from her nose and her eyes were dull and red. I wanted to keep my distance but I needed a doctor. " there's a medical tent down the street... The doctor there will help with your friend."

I thanked the sick pony and quickly made my way down the street. Soon enough I came across a large tent with a Red Cross on it. There were sick and grey ponies gathered all around it. There were nurses in masks walking around trying to help all the ponies camped out by the tent. Some to where on gurneys others were lying in the street.

I ran past the sea of sick ponies and over to the tent. I burst in to see that it too was filled with sick ponies. Some of the ponies that were sick were lying on the ground or on gurneys writhing in pain and sickness. The more disturbing sight however where the ponies that weren't moving at all... They laid there and stared off completely stiff. Their eyes dilated and vibrating like their being chased in some kind of horrible nightmare.

It wasn't long until I found the main desk over to the side of the sick sea of ponies. There were several nurses there trying to take down the needs of all the ponies. This has already spread so much for it to have happened in a few weeks. I saw an opening in the counter and rushed over.

" help..." I said. "This stallion needs to see a doctor." The nurse looked over to the stallion on my back and seemed shock.

" doctor Connors..." Yelled the nurse to a tent flap near the desk.

" damnit nurse..." Said a voice. " I can't take every sick patient that comes in here."

" no it's different... This stallion is horribly injured." She said getting closer to the flap. I followed her. The tent flap swung to the side revealing the doctor. He was a light brown stallion with spiky white hair. He looked at the nurse then at me... Then at the guard on my back. He seemed startled.

" quickly get him in here." He said. I rushed in after the doctor and found the closest gurney. I set the guard down and removed what little armor he had left on him for the doctor who soon came over with the nurse. He looked at the body. " what's his condition." Asked the doctor.

" he was attacked." I replied. " some kind of vine with barbs attacked him... I managed to fend him off before he was killed. I cleaned and dressed the wound and gave him a painkiller." The doctor used a pain of surgical sitcoms to cut off the wrappings for his chest and shoulder. The nurse took the wrappings and put them away.

" you did a good job of dressing his wound..." Said the doctor."this doesn't need much medical attention... Just needs to be cleaned and redressed."

" that's not the problem." I said. I gestured to his leg. The doctor cut off those bandages next. With the wrappings gone i could see the wound. It was a bit sickening. The nurse next to me wretched a little and looked away.

" now this is more serious." Said the doctor. With the blood and dirt gone it was easy to see that the vines had completely ripped away almost all the flesh on the lower half of his leg. There were deep cuts and spots where you could see bone. Higher up there was a place where it was obvious to see that the bone had been snapped and shattered.

" is he going to be fine." I asked.

" probably..." Said the doctor. "I can try and save the leg but I don't promise you anything... If you don't mind stepping outside so I can operate... I'll have the nurse fetch you when it's done." He said. I just nodded my head and left the room while the doctor did some prepping.

I left and walked out of the tent and into the sea of sick ponies. I didn't want to end up like them so I instinctually kept my distance. I couldn't help but look at them. They seemed so lifeless and dead like corpses... Or more like zombies. I noticed that some of them were vomiting and leaking blood from their eyes.

_" no disease... Deadly... Beware, beware the black rose... Thorns, pain, agony, death._" Said the strange voice. I looked around and there were no other ponies around but ones that were sick and dying.

" get out of my head." I said hitting my head. The voice grew stronger and more painful as it started giving me a splitting headache.

_"Do not trust... Beware... Beware, beware... Not a plague... Not contagious... She will feed... Beware the red mare._" Said the voice. Then it went silent. What the hell. Before I could start thinking I was interrupted by a voice.

" hello sir..." Said the voice. I turned around to see a mare. She was bright red with black hair and emerald green eyes. She was smiling at me... Beware the red mare. " would you like to try a pink rose." She said showing me a tray she was varying with decorated pink flower shaped treats.

"What are they." I asked. Before I got an answer a few other ponies seemed to walk over to the red mare.

" oh hey... These are the pink rose things my friend told me about..." Said one mare walking over and looking at them. Another pony, a stallion, walked over and grabbed one. He took a bite and the mare smiled as he ate.

" dude these things are the best." Said the stallion with a bit of the treat still in his mouth. He ate the rest and went on his merry way. Before I got my answer three ponies had came and went with smiles on their faces.

" so what are they." I asked again. She giggled girlishly and smiled.

" it's I new treat our mother Seiko made."she said smiling.

" Your mother." I asked. Without knowing looked past her to see a different mare offering ponies the same product. "Is it a family business."

" no." She said giggling. " but Seiko sees us as her children so we look up to her like our mother... She's quite a wonderful mare." She said. " so go ahead try one." She said...

This doesn't make sense... Why is this mare... Probably not even 20 yet handing out free treats to ponies... In the middle of the night... Next to a tent filled to the brim with disease riddled ponies.

"_ touch not... The pink rose. Trust not the ones touched by its thorns... Beware, beware._" The voice started saying. The pain in my head came back and I winced and held my head. The sales girl seemed confused. "_ only death...only death... She will feed... No, no no no no no no... The rose... Brings... Pain, death, chaos, lies, hate..._" Said the voice... It kept going... Gnawing at the inside of my head.

"I'm sorry but I have to go." I said I started to trot away but kept close to the tent. The voice however kept chanting at my mind.

_"Agony... Anguish... Suffering... Death... Kill, kill, kill_." Then it stopped. "_ there is evil here._" It said before finally clearing away... I don't know what this is but I'm going to find mystee and her family and get to the bottom of this... Something is wrong and I have a feeling the vines, the plague, and this Seiko and her pink roses are all linked together... Somehow.

" there you are." Said a voice behind me. I looked back and saw a mare in a nurses uniform. "Doctor Connors wants to see you now." She said. She walked to the tent and I followed her back. Eventually we got to the back operating room where I saw the guard lying on a gurney. His leg was wrapped in a cast and bandages.

" good you're here." Said the doctor who was on the other side of the room washing his hooves.

" how was it doc." I asked.

" pretty good." He said. " you did a very good job of dressing the wound and

Kept it clean and relaxed... There wasn't any infection or obtrusive swelling which made the procedure very clean and quick... I set the bone and stitched up the scars." I looked over to the guard who was moaning on the table. I walked over and he opened his eyes to see me. He smiled.

" thank you stranger... " he said.

" hmm... Stranger huh." Said the doctor. "So you don't know this stallion then... Either way he owes you his life."

"I do..." Said the guard. " thank you again." He replied."

" now there is some bad news." Said the doctor. I looked over. " with this strange sickness spreading were running out of room... We need to start using this room to house sick ponies... You can't stay here."

" that's alright..." I said. " I know a family that would gladly house him while he heals." with that out i help get the guard up and onto my back again.

"alright... you take care now... and keep you're distance from the sick... were not sure if the flu going around is contagious but it's spreading like it is... so be careful." said the doctor.

"thank you doctor." i said. with that i left the tent and went back outside. i started walking and stopped for a bit to catch my breath. it was late and i was tired and i have to carry this guy back.

"so where is this family you talk about." he said.

"i'm not really sure." i said. i looked around at all the roads and paths there were. this was going to be tough.

"you're kidding." he said.

"wish i was... trust me when they exist... but i haven't been in touch since we got out of the desert... so i'm unaware where they have their camp." i said. i looked around some more. i grit my teeth and my head started to hurt... no not this voice again. i waited but nothing was said. it wasn't the voice. but everything around me started getting dark... except for one of the roads. i decided that it would be smart since whatever is showing me these things lately has been right about all of them.

i walked and followed the only lit up path i could see. it wasn't glowing or anything special like that... it was just the only one i could see... everything else was just pitch black... and silent too. the chatter of the crowd had dispersed and all the ponies were gone too. the only way i knew weather to move out of some ponies way is because ponies close to me like the guard on my back were just masses of black smoke and glowing eyes.

it was like i was in my own little world. i kept following the path turning left then right. taking all sorts of turns and twists. the buildings that must be around me have taken some kind of black void and seem to obscure the path like they regularly would. i just kept walking. i met a straight away then took a right. i finally however reached the end of my visible path. i looked down at the last spot of visible road as color sound and feeling all returned to my body and i could see normally again.

when i looked up there was a huge dirt circle with several carts around it. in the center was a fire pit and some benches. i immediately recognized one of the carts as the family wagon and smiled. there were a few other carts here though. i took a few steps in and looked around. it looked like a cozy little campground... everypony is probably sleeping... that sounds pretty good right now.

"what are we doing here." asked the guard. he sounded tired. i figured that i had been walking for at least more than half an hour. it's probably well past midnight by now... hell i'm surprised the sun hasn't come up yet... it probably will soon. so i guess i'll stay up and watch over the guard.

"this is the family i talked about... they live here." i said. "i can tell from their wagons."

"so this is the place." he said.

"yeah." i replied. i walked over to the fireplace and set the guard down on a seat. he could sit up just fine but walking still might be difficult for him. i set my bags down too. "we can wait here until morning and meet the family... lets not disturb them while they sleep." i said toning my voice down for the occasion.

"alright..." he said. he looked at me and then looked at the camp fire. there were still a few fresh logs in there. i couldn't help but fell like i was supposed to do something. without thinking i stared at the logs until i felt some kind of energy then there was a violent spark and the logs lit on fire. i jumped in a bit of surprise and so did the guard. he almost fell over but i used some kind of force to stop him from falling.

"well then..." i said.

"how did you do that... are you one of the gypsies." he asked.

"no i'm no gypsy... but i am a bit of a special case... don't worry about it." i said.

"who are you." he asked.

"just nopony important." i replied.

"what's you're name... and where are you from... you definitely are a strange one." he said.

"my names crimson blast." i replied. "i've been on a journey now for a long time... originally i'm from a small country in the north. but after war and famine destroyed it i, like many others, fled. i fled to equestria, where i changed my name and started a new life... i'm here on a quest that i still have yet to find... i believe i'm well into the fifth month of a four month quest and return trip." i said.

"so that's you're life story." he said meagerly surprised.

"most of it up until now." i said. "i'm a pretty wealthy and famous adventurer in equestria... one of few." i looked over at him and he looked at me smiling.

"what's you're story... i was eavesdropping on you and you're other friend... what business do you have here." i asked.

"where from karvadan." he said.

"so you're guards from the capitol... why aren't there guards in the other parts." i asked.

"well there are." he said "almost all pegasus guards are sent to the south section of oasis because its high up in the canopy and they're most efficient there. i other places there are guards but they use magic to cover their armour to look like regular street clothes... this goes away when they spring into action..."

"thats very clever." i said. "i hadn't even noticed."

"us central boys however wear the colors proudly." he said. "the armour is blessed so its strong... the metal is flexible and its light as a feather." he smiled and took pride in his statement. "we gotta dress for the part right... just like you." he said. "you certainly dress the part of an adventurer... but you should flash you're weapon a bit more."

"weapon?" i said questionably.

"yes..." he said. "that sword you used to cut those vines a while back... it must be quite sharp... i'm glad i still have mine." said the guard tugging the strap across his chest to the sword hilt behind him.

"so you didn't see it." i asked.

"see what." said the guard putting his sword on his lap. it was obvious he was feeling some pain as he winced and grit his teeth trying to get his sword off his back.

"well most ponies find out eventually... i might as well show you now." i said. using the shadows i stretched on over to the log pile and picked up a big log. i tossed it up in the air and used two other shadows to slice at it. it broke into fourths and the pieces fell into the roaring fire. "i'm not sure why i bother keeping it a secret... i try my best but there's always something... something that pushes me." i said talking to both the guard and myself.

"thats... that's quite the ability." he said.

"it does make me one-of-a-kind." i said. we both paused for a bit and i stared at the fire. i shook my head and cleared my thoughts. "i'm sorry but i don't think you finished you're life's story... ust that you're a guard from kazadan."

"alright i can finish... i do owe you my story at least if you're hoping that it helps you with something i'm guessing." he said.

"yes it would help me..." i said.

"well... as for my life it's not as glamorous as yours." he said looking at the fire. "i was born and raised in the east section of oasis. my family was pretty well off but that never spoiled me as a child." he said. he paused for a second.

"go on." i said. "i don't mind hearing you're past."

" well my parents were happily married and still are. i always did good in school. good grades, good behavior, all that. didn't have many bullies and never got in fights." he kept going. "i graduated high school and went on to college where i studied in physics and history."

"college huh." i said. "not bad..." i said. i remember going to college back in my world. i studied at college for six years and got a biomedical engineer masters degree... basically that meant i could fix any kind of problem... be it with people or machines... i could fix it. i did want to join the army as a frontline medic but they thought i would be better in an elite super soldiers squad... i was captain but still i did medic stuff with that little i could.

"did you go to college." he asked. the question caught me off guard a bit but i was able to quickly pull up a lie.

"yeah i went to a local college... i mastered in medical care and engineering." i said.

"that would explain the good job you did on my leg and shoulder." he said. he paused for a minute to think. "so what's engineering like?"

"pretty fun... it's like playing with building blocks... just on a whole new level." i said. "just fit all the pieces together and you can build some pretty cool shit."

"reminds me about something i read once." he said. "about a whole city of these... gnome, creatures deep in the mountains of nazzakir. far far to the north of equestria where you live now." he said.

"gnomes." i said questioningly.

"yeah i remember it was about 4 years back that we got a visit from them... they were so interesting that even the high seer cam and welcomed them... not like he could do much since they landed right on his front door." he said. he started laughing at his memories.

"what do you mean 'landed'." i said.

"well you see." he replied. they flew here in a great big machine." he was obviously excited about the story as he started making hoof gestures while he talked. "the whole thing was made of metal... different cogs and gears and a seat with a strange wheel... it didn't have wings either... it had a bunch of really long blades on top of it that spun really fast and lifted them up."

"oh... a helicopter." i said.

"a what." he said... i probably shouldn't have said that. now i have to think of another lie.

"after college i decided to tinker with my skills in engineering and came across schematics for it a machine like that... but i knew i could never build it." i said. "though it does sound like it's quite interesting... but i would have no need for it."

"it did look complicated... it made a lot of noise too." he said. "it also ran on this black liquid stuff... like how a train runs on coal but this was a liquid... looked kinda like ink." he said. "now that i think of it... you wouldn't happen to know what the stuff is do you?" he asked. i really want to get back to his story so i could get the info i need but i am having fun with the conversation and it is still dark. it has been a while since i had a nice talk with somepony.

"yeah that stuff is called oil." i said. "it's a natural substance that runs deep underground. its very flammable and can be used as a good source for fuel for an engine." he had a face of realization and i could tell he got it. he quickly smiled after.

"so i think you would like that place." he said. "the gnomes are real masters of engineering. i heard the whole place is like one big underground machine."

"what are the gnomes like." i asked.

"well their short." he said as i expected them to be. " tallest one i saw was probably only up to my neck... they were strange clothes all the time and stand on two hooves and use their other two hooves to work with. their other two hooves have appendages on them and they make doing stuff look so easy."

"you mean like these." i said. i pushed a shadow out in front of the guard and forced its shape into a human hand.

"yeah just like that." he said.

"and did they walk on these things." i said reshaping the hand into a foot.

"yeah i'm pretty sure... they wore shoes most of the time but i think i caught a glimpse." i forced the foot back into a hand and used it to put more wood on the fire. "how do you know this."

"i studied a lot of stuff in college... there type of body is classified as homosapien in nature." i said. he seemed confused. "that means they look like monkeys but smarter."

"ohh..." he said. he thought for a few seconds. "yeah now that you say it does make sense." he smiled again and laughed. "you're pretty smart for an adventurer..." he said.

"yeah most people say i don't look like an adventurer." i said rolling my eyes and chuckling lightly.

"well you're past didn't prepare you for it... but you decided to come out as one hell of an adventurer." he said. he stopped for a second. "oh god we did it again..." he said. i was a bit confused. "if i keep side tracking like this i'll never finish my story." he said. i had almost forgotten. "where was i."

"you had just finished college." i said.

"ah... yes." he said smiling. "well during college i did keep a job as a blacksmith's apprentice. it was good manual work and it paid well in both money and muscle." he said flexing his arm. he did seem pretty muscular.

"so what after college." i asked.

"after college i had earned enough as an apprentice to afford my own place." he said. "i kept my job as a blacksmith's apprentice and went on to becoming a master smither... i started my own shop making weapons and repairing armour... i was often visited by town guards who needed my services."

"is that why you became a guard." i asked.

"not yet." he replied. "about three years after college i started seeing a nice mare called rachel. we dated for a few years then we married. we're still happily married and with two kids. michael my son who is the oldest and jessy my daughter." just hearing about his family started to make me miss mine... but i can't be distracted by that now.

"nice... i'm sorry to rush but i would like to know about you're orders." i said.

"alright." i said. "i was ordered out here from central to both control the masses and protect the city."

"what's that mean." i said.

"well the high seer has seen the sickness spreading around here and has ordered guards from all around oasis here to make sure we can keep the masses in control. if this sickness were to spread to much it would cause panic and unrest. that could start a rioting and desperation. sick ponies would be likely to wander into oasis and spread the disease there." he said.

"so you're plan is to quell the fire... by starving it of oxygen." i said.

"in a way yes." he said looking guilty. "i know it may seem bad but you must understand that we can't let something like this reach the city."

"you said guards from all around... does that mean the undercover guards from other sectors are here... is that why i can't see them." i said.

"yes and the ever invisible southern pegasus guards that watch from the canopy with hawk like vission... me and my partner were supposed to go to the guards quarter stationed in this camp and help control the other guards." he said.

"so you're pretty high ranking." i said.

"yes... all central guards hold a ranking of at least a major." he replied.

"well thank you for the information..." i said. " but i don't think you really need to worry."

"wha... why." he asked confused.

"because it's not contagious." i said.

"you couldn't possibly know that." he said.

"but i do... and it's so simple." i said. "just look at the facts. both of us were at that medical tent full of infected ponies for at least an hour and were still perfectly healthy... and if that isn't enough there's still the fact of the medical staff. both the nurses and the doctor were only wearing paper masks... that's not nearly enough to keep from getting sick. besides with how fast this disease has already spread it should have gotten to them already... hell we should already be sick."

"what you say makes sense but i've still got my orders." said the guard. "and i do appreciate the help and everything but when i'm ready and able i'm gonna go to the guards quarters and debrief my superiors about why i was absent then follow through with my orders."

"and i won't stop you." i said. we both sat there in awkward silence for a bit and i threw another log onto the fire. i looked up in the sky to see it was getting lighter out but it still must be late. i was getting pretty sleepy and my eyelids were growing heavy, but i managed to keep myself up. i just stared at the fire and poked at it with a long stick.

"you know... i don't think i ever told you my name." said the guard. i looked over at him. "my name is clay." he said.

"clay huh...that's an interesting name" i said smiling. "well clay you're probably starving and thirsty... i've got some food to share and more water."

"that sounds pretty damn good right now." he said licking his chops in hunger making me smile. i reached into my bag and pulled out two covered bowls of noodle soup. i handed him one and he undid the lid. a burst of steam jetted out and greeted him. i stared at the steam in confusion then looked at the bowl. there was a small glowing sticker on it with a symbol. i smiled. "how is this hot."

"gypsy magic." i said smiling and looking off to the family caravan behind clay and smiling. i checked my bowl and it had a sticker too. it wasn't glowing. i popped the lid off and sure enough the sticker was glowing now. i was also greeted with a burst of steam. clay looked at his bowl.

"oh..." he said. "i see these things all the time in the city... i probably should have known" i reached back into my bag and pulled out my sack of water and a spare one. i tossed clay the spare and i drank from mine. we spent the next few minutes eating and drinking. i finished my food and water and so did clay.

i took the bowl and water pouch from him and put them in my bag with other used dishes that i still don't know what to do with... i could probably just throw them out... i don't need them. i looked up to the sky and saw that it was getting noticeably brighter now. there was a tinge of orange in the distance. i watched at the sky above grew lighter and the trees and plants stopped glowing.

i'm not sure when mystee and her family usually get up. we used to get up early because of the whole caravan thing but maybe not... i don't know. i looked over to clay who had fallen asleep and was now laying across the log. i just ignored him and looked back at the sky. after a few minutes streaks of sunlight began running past the canopy which was much more open since there were fewer trees around now.

i wanted to start sleeping too but the warm rays of sunlight kept me awake. they reminded me that it was day time now and that i've got stuff to do. the fire had started to die down and is nothing more now than a few tiny flames burning on hot coals. i let out a big yawn and stretched my arms... maybe after i say my hellos i can find someplace that sells coffee.

"i was wondering when you would get back here." said a familiar voice. i looked around to see it was jericco. seeing his face made me smile and forget i was tired. "i see you have a friend too." he said walking over from the cart and sitting next to me.

"it's good to see you." i said. "it's been a while..."

"it has... took us much longer just to get you into the city... those ponies there are stubborn as bulls... hospitals were all full so we're lucky we found a family who would house you." he said smiling.

"hmm..." i hummed. " well it sure was a crazy trip back here."

"i could tell..." he said. "you've got the smell of adventure on you... then again you always do." he said chuckling. i chuckled to at the not so surprisingly true statement. "hmmm, mystee's been excited for when you would make it back. and you made good time of it too seeing as how we left without telling you where we are."

"well i always manage to find a way." i said. i was about to go on and say something but i stopped when my hearing picked up the sound of coughing coming from the large family caravan. " i've been wondering." i said. " what do you know about this sickness spreading around the camp..."

"hmm... i knew you would bring it up... it's been too obvious not to notice." he said. "well it came here suddenly without warning too. it started slowly however." he said. " it arrived the moment we set up the camp here... a lot of ponies had started getting colds and fevers... coughing, sneezing, regular stuff like that... we kept you here for about a week before moving you into the city. in that week the infected ponies grew in numbers..."

"what is the disease progression like." i asked.

"well it's like nothing i ever saw." he said. "at first ponies just thought it was a cold... even me. but after the fever the coughing grows more violent and then ponies started breaking out into rashes. they would feel cold but start sweating. then there was the twitching and muscle spasms..." he said. "then the virus hit the stomach and that was one of the worst parts... ponies were howling in pain and puking their guts up... sometimes there was nothing left in their guts but they would act like they were throwing up anyway.

so from what i've learned from this is that it starts as a fever... that would be in the brain. then a rash... it could be caused by a hormone unbalance in the hypothalamus which is in the neck. i need to ask him something.

" then after that ponies start getting very tired and drowsy. they can't sleep however and they lose their appetite. next they would get really bad diarrhea... it was pretty messy." he said. "then the worst part is when they just stopped..."

"stopped." i said.

"yeah they would be fine one minute and the next they would just drop to the floor like a doll. i've seen it happen quite a few times in the street. they would drop and then they're muscles just freeze up and they become stiff. they're still livin and barely breathing but doctors say their unconscious. like a coma but every single one of those ponies has their eyes open and they're all faded and always facing around the room." he said.

"jericco." i asked.

"yeah."

"this rash." i said. " what does it look like."

"well it's really red and flakey... spreads pretty quick... that's as far as i know."

"does it start from the neck area."

"uhm... yeah... right in the front of their necks... they usually get blotted up a bit too." he said.

i knew it... it starts from the brain and travels to the thyroid. the lack of metabolic stabilizers causes these ponies to develop a case of 'goiters' which must be what causes the rash. next it attacks the stomach and seems to empty it. next it goes for the kidneys and adrenal gland. triggers bursts of epinephrine which is what's causing the muscle spasms. then the pancreas... without insulin or glucagon the body's metabolism would crash causing the depression and drowsiness. next it voids the intestines causing diarrhea.

this would put the body into a state of hemorrhagic isolation and distress. this would cause them to fall flat and lose consciousness. i can't explain the stiffening muscles or why they have their eyes open. but in this state of hormonal unbalance the body would start pumping more blood to the brain to supply more oxygen and keep the immune system fueled. this is why i saw some ponies that were bleeding from the eyes. there must be so much blood rushed into their skull.

so based on what i could draw up it starts from the brain and works its way down attacking only hormonal glands and the digestive system... it completely disregards all or any vital organs... heart, lungs, or even the brain. and i find it impressive how it is able to cause some of the symptoms it does without directly affecting the nervous system... it might though tap into the nerves... but it would have to be after the body goes unconscious.

any earlier than that and it would most likely put the body in a state of nervous imparity. that would leave the ponies with impairments like loss of muscle control or even in worse cases mental distress which leads to schizophrenia and paranoia.

so seeing how it works i can definitely concur that this is not a virus and is not contagious. this is something worse. it seems to trick the body into think its dying. since the body thinks its dying it would keep as much blood flowing to the heart, lungs and brain. making everything else weaker and less likely to be able to operate well.

with the heart, lungs, and brain still being fed oxygen and not having been targeted severely they can operate freely. i looked over to jericco who was just staring at me. it had taken me a good 15 minutes to get this far but he knew i was thinking so he let me be and gave me a stern face like he was encouraging me to figure whatever it is out. i'm going to do just that.

so the heart lungs and brain still work but the body is completely useless and utterly helpless. if i am correct however the apparently unconscious ponies should still be fully aware with the exception of eyesight. eyesight is usually the first to go since its far more complicated and energy consuming than the other senses... but everything else is still there which explains there milky eyes.

it's rather interesting actually. they haven't actually gone blind, its just that their brain is choosing not to read data sent from the eyes. with no positive return signal from the brain in a few hours the eyes stop sending signals to save energy. if they should get better then the brain will start asking for data from the eyes and they'll start working again... just might take and hour or two.

i really don't regret spending 6 years in college.

with how quickly the disease travels combined with symptoms, lethality, and behavior it's obvious that this isn't a disease or virus or bacteria. this is confusing. the way it spreads and acts is biological in nature but it's not at the same time... dammit think.

"c'mon crimson think..." i said outloud breaking the silence. i put my hooves to my head. "its so simple but i have no idea what it is."

"i take it you have an idea." said jericco. to be honest i was getting a little upset with myself so my tone of voice was a bit harsh and loud.

"i have no idea..." i said. "i've mapped out how it works and spreads... but that's the thing... i don't know how it works... it's not logical, it doesn't make sense."

"maybe if you tell me i can help you." he said. "i am pretty good with medicine after all." he is right... he and his family are pretty medically inclined and know more than some doctors i've met.

"alright." i said. "basically it starts at the brain and works down attacking all non vital organs like the heart and lungs. it drains the body of all waste and bile. then this is the tricky part... it uses its control of hormonal glands to put the body into a near death state causing blood to be pumped only to the heart lungs and brain starving the rest... in their so called unconscious state the victim is fully aware of their surroundings with the exception of sight." i said managing to blurt all of that out in under three minutes. i started taking deep breaths.

"remember when i said i could help." said jericco. i nodded. "i was wrong." i hung my head and let out a sigh of hopelessness but his humor still made me smile a bit and chuckle. "can you tell me the gist of it."

"basically it tricks the body into thinking it's dying." i said. "this trick causes the body to sustain itself in a preserved state." he nodded his head in agreement. for a stallion of his age he's pretty down to earth. " during this initial coma like state their sent into they still have full awareness and use of their senses except for sight... and i still have no idea what is causing this." i said.

"it's the disease." he said.

"thats just it though." i said. "it's not a disease or virus or bacteria. somehow this thing is a both living and nonliving... it behaves just like both and i can't tell." i let out a deep frustrated moan and put my head in my hooves.

"at least it's not contagious." i said.

"it's not." said jericco... he seemed really surprised.

"no if it affects the brain first without doing any serious or extreme damage that must mean it runs through the bloodstream and wouldn't survive long outside the body. it doesn't actually cause a fever... it just tricks the mind. if something like this was deeply rooted into the brain then ponies would be dropping like flies." i said.

"well you sound like you know what you're doing." he said. "but you're sure its not contagious." he asked again. i just looked at him and he seemed a bit stressed and worried. i knew what was wrong.

"alright jericco... who's sick." i asked. he seemed surprised then he hung his head and i saw a few tears roll from his eyes.

"it's... it's mirella..." he said. i felt bad but at the same time relieved, some part of me was glad that it wasn't mystee who was ill.

"you can at least take solace in the fact that this isn't going to kill her." i said. he did seem to brighten up, but not much. "if you don't help her,through her body will die of malnutrition or dehydration. you're going to have to feed her... but only after she's fallen into paralytic shock... if you put any food into her before that the virus with force body to reject it." he just stood up and walked over to the other side of the fire pit.

"why don't you uhm... uh, wake up you're friend and get him settled in the supply wagon over there." he said gesturing to the wagon closest to the road on my right.

"alright." i said. jericco walked away and back into the large family wagon. i walked up to clay and nudged him. it took a bit of effort but i managed to get him up. "hey... wake up." i said.

"what... oh yeah." he said looking around.

"c'mon while you were sleeping i had a talk with jericco... he's the head of the family... he said you could stay in the supply wagon." i said. i sat clay up and i helped him stand up. i didn't have to carry him now but he still needed help standing.

we both walked over to the supply wagon and walked in. its just how i remember it. somehow remembering perfectly what to do i set clay down against the wall and walked over to a chest and opened it up. inside were sheets and blankets with a pillow i set down plenty of sheets and blankets to soften the floor. i helped him up and walked him over to the bedding. i laid him down and he rested his head on the pillow.

"there is that good." i said. he shifted around abit.

"surprisingly more comfortable than the beds in the barracks." he said smiling. i chuckled and laid a few sheets on him.

"alright rest up... i've got stuff i need to look into." i said. i turned and started to leave but he stopped me.

"hey crimson." he said. i stopped and turned to look at him. "thanks again." he said and he laid his head back down. i smiled and left the wagon. i walked across the dirt gap between wagons and walked up to the family wagon. i walked in and looked around.

i noticed over in the large master bed jericco was sitting next to his sickly wife and holding her hand. she didn't look good. i walked over and stood by her. when she saw me she smiled but couldn't force herself to speak.

"how far has she gotten into the illness." i asked.

"she just got it yesterday and hasn't started on the vomiting phase yet." he said.

"what time yesterday." i asked.

"she came home from shopping at around four past noon. she was fine when she returned but she just got worse and worse. she woke me up last night because she said she had a really bad rash." he said. i grabbed the blankets and pulled them down to her waist. she had a red undertone to her fur around her neck and chest area. there were flakes of dead skin were she must have been scratching.

"alright when that rash hits her stomach then she's going to start the vomiting phase." i said. "it would be best to stop feeding her food, just water... it'll make it easier on her. and get a bucket." i said.

"alright i'll go and do that." said jericco. i stayed by mirella's side and jericco left. he left the wagon and i took his seat. i looked at mirella who was clearly suffering and taking large wheezy breaths through her mouth.

"hey mirella." i said. "it's good to see you again." i said.

"it's... good to... see you too crimson." she said.

"listen mirell... i need you to tell me about yesterday when you went to the market... if anything strange happened you need to tell me... i can help." i said.

"well..." she said. "i just... went shopping... for food... and... and for...other things..." it was obvious this was difficult for her. " i just... went to the same... the mase store i've gone to... for 20 years now." he said. nothing strange there.

"anything else." i asked.

"well i... i did stop in the park... just for... just to rest... rest my legs." he sputtered out. "then this... nice mare came to me... she asked me if... if i wanted to try... uh... something called a... called." i knew where this was going.

"was it a little treat called a pink rose." i asked.

"yes... it was." she said.

"did you eat it." i asked.

"i... i wasn't hungry at first... but then... these other ponies... they said how good it was and... i-i... i had to try it myself."

"did you head right back home after that." i asked.

"y-yes." she said. i looked at her with worry and she just looked back at me with a mixture of regret and fear. "should... i not have." she said.

"if my hunch is correct... it's the pink rose that made you sick." i said. "did the mare handing them out say anything about her boss... or their mother as she might have called it... did she talk about a mare named Seiko."

"she... mentioned somewhat... i... can't remember much... i'm sorry." she said.

"no... i should be sorry... you've done more than enough. you just rest." i said. 'and enjoy what little time you have left before you get to the worst of it.' i thought. she closed her eyes and started drifting off back to sleep i just sat there and started thinking again.

alright so if i am right then the initial virus or whatever would have to be baked in with those treats. it can survive high temperatures and is digested in through the stomach. but that makes no sense. how could it survive inside of the pick roses for long periods of time but not spread like a contagion. and how does it take affect of the brain first if it arrives in the stomach... the body should dissolve it or immediately sense it and start rejecting it... that doesn't happen until later and at the virus's own doing. it makes less sense now... but i know who's behind this.

that seiko bitch and her fucking pink roses. and hopefully she would have some kind of cure. if not at least data on the virus or the actual thing so i can turn it over and help reverse engineer a cure. i should also probably watch out for the flower girls around handing out free samples of death. i know though that when i find this seiko i'm going to get my answers. although i don't plan for this to go down very peacefully... and i don't hope so. i've really been itching to see what new stuff i'm made of. so there will be no peace.

****oh, no... there will be blood.

-Authors Note: plot twist... SCANDALOUS... I've had this idea stuck in my head since chapter one but i never got around to doing it. i have decided to scrap the idea for last chapter being part of this one... it was at first but i didn't like the way it came out so i'm taking the (part 1) off of the last chapter. in other news i'm back... starting to feel better. still pretty sick but the worst is over... i know that you guys are really waiting for the temple part and i promise its going to be big... but it still might be a few chapters... i'm having fun with this adventure and i want to try and drag it on without completely killing it however... but yeah hope you guys liked it. stay shady.-End of Note-


	75. Chapter 75: A Whole New Level

**-WARNING-**

**the following chapter contains depictions of sexual and graphic nature**

**if you do not wish to see such things please dispose of your computer in the nearest garbage disposal unit then immediately set fire to your house... if not then continue.**

**-you have been warned-**

This isn't exactly the return I was hoping for. I was hoping I would come back earlier than I did to see smiling ponies happy about their lives. I was hoping that when I got to the camp I would be treated by my new friends and mystee would run out of a tent or something and hug me and we would spend the night around the fire telling stories and having fun.

Instead I come back to find that the camp has been riddled with sickness and distress. I have yet to meet any of my friends under good conditions and I still haven't seen mystee. I just want to sit back and relax for once. But before I do anything though I have stuff to do.

I got up from the chair next to the bed of a very sick mirella. She had been stricken with the plague and is suffering now. I turned and walked out the wagon flap and back outside. I took a few steps onto the ground and as soon as my vision cleared I noticed Jericco was right beside me with the bucket I told him to get.

" I got the bucket." He said.

" good. " I replied. I let out a sigh because I'm not happy about what I was going to say next. "I have to be going now." I said. Jericco stopped and almost dropped the bucket he was holding.

" you have to leave already." He said.

" I probably won't be gone for too long... But I have something that I need to do." I replied. " make sure you take good care of your wife and the guard."

" you won't even say goodbye to mystee." He said.

" it's probably better that I don't see her under these conditions." I said. " but tell her I said be safe..." Jericco nodded his head and continued to the wagon but I stopped him one last time before he went in. " oh and Jericco." I said. " tell your family... Beware of the pink rose." I said. With that out I picked my bags up near the fire pit and left.

It wasn't long before I disappeared behind a bunch of other wagons and trees. I kept walking and I was hoping some pony would try and stop me but no pony showed up. It was just me again on some wanton quest to help random ponies in a place far from home... That seems to be a pattern in my life, just one random and dangerous quest after another.

Once again I begin with minimal if any information at all and absolutely no clue where I need to go. Chances are I'm probably not going to walk out of this unscathed. Like I said... It seems to be a pattern. At least I've got some sort of bearing this time. So I definitely know that this Seiko lady has something to do with it. So I should start with that... If I can find out where her bakery or whatever is I can most likely snoop around and find anything suspicious... But unlike the last few times I'm not going to just jump in this time.

"No way..." Said a voice close by. I turned my head to see a stallion staring at me from close by. He rushed over to my side of the street and was standing next to me. He just kind of stared at me with an awkward smile on his face. He was wearing dark black leather armor with a cowl put down and a bow string to him. His coat was a dark metallic grey and his mane was a silvery black... I looked to his sides and noticed he had wings. His armor covered up most of his flank but I could make out what looked like a bow crossed with a moon.

"Uh... Can I help you." I asked.

"No way..." He repeated. " are you crimson blast." He asked with great enthusiasm.

"Uh... Yeah... Why." I Said. The next thing I knew the kid just exploded right in my face.

" no freaking way... This is great." He said. He repeated " no way, no way." Over and over while bouncing around me. I've seen some shit... But nothing has prepared me for this.

"Jeez kid, calm down..." I said. Almost immediately he stopped and relaxed. Like an obedient dog "don't work yourself into a heart attack."

" I'm sorry... It's... It's just so great to finally meet you." He said.

" finally?..."

" yeah." He said. " I tried looking for you in ponyville but you weren't there so I did some sneaking and found out you've gone on a quest to black marsh so I headed out too and when I learned you joined the gypsy convoy I tried looking for you but it's such a big camp but I can't believe I've finally found you." He said growing more eager and energetic with every word. When he finally stopped he started breathing heavily but tried to hide it. I remained silent for a second and allowed my brain to process the never ending sentence.

" so...you've been looking for me for... What, five months almost." I asked.

"Yeah something like that." He said with the same smile he greeted me with still spread wide across his face.

"You traveled all this way... Just to find me." I said making sure I was hearing him right.

" yeah I'm your biggest fan."he said. Processing...processing... What?

"My... Biggest fan?" I asked.

"We'll there are others who might say they're your biggest fan but I think I'm the best." He replied.

"There... Are others."I asked.

" yeah my other friends in Anvil Hoof." He said. "We have a huge fan club with lots of members."

"Anvil hoof..." I said. " it sounds familiar... Is that in Equestria." I asked.

" yeah." He said. "It's close to ponyville where you live... Just in the mountains to the east." That close huh.

"So you've got a fan club..." I said. " so do you... Like want my autograph or something."

" really... That would be awesome." He said. He reached into on of his pockets and pulled out a little book. I just realized though that I don't have a pen... Or quill in this case. I guess I should give them what they want. So using my shadows I pulled up a shadowy claw from behind me and used one of the claws fingers to write the signature in shadow. When I was Done the page was glowing black with my signature and the letters were emitting a little bit of black smoke... Probably the coolest signature ever.

" there we go." I said pulling the shadow back into the ground. "I hope that makes you happy." I said he smiled and put the book back into his pocket.

" this is probably the best day of my life." He said.

" alright good for you kid." I said. I didn't want to blow him off but my sight flew past him and picked up on one of those mare again walking around with the pink roses. I walked forward with my eyes set on her and lightly nudged him out of the way to go forward.

"So what are you still doing in this camp." He said. " shouldn't you get going to black marsh."

" I'm busy at the moment." I replied with my eyes still fixed on the mare.

"What are you busy with." He said.

" don't worry about it." I replied.

" but... but... I've got so many questions." He said. " like how did you get your powers... What's it like... When did you come to Equestria." He said. He just started firing off questions. He was being loud and obnoxious and drawing attention. No doubt he would raise suspicion to my suspects. "What's the quest your on... Is your battle with celestia true... What abilities do you have." I quickly stopped him and shut him up.

" alright look kid." I said. "It's really important I remain anonymous right now... So you need to shut up before you ruin everything... I promise I will answer all of your questions later but right now... Just please... Don't talk." I said. I removed my hoof from his mouth which I used to silence him. He didn't say anything after that. That smile from before finally washed off his face but he was still excited I could feel the emotion leaking from him.

I stepped back and kept walking to the mare who was selling the pink roses. As I came closer I noticed that she didn't have any more roses to sell and she looked like she was heading back. I could follow her but I have a better Idea. If that fails then I follow her. With my plan in mind I walked up to the mare and put on my best impersonation.

" hello ma'am." I said getting her attention. She looked back a bit surprised but smiled when she saw me.

" hello sir... How can I help you."

" me and my friend here." I said gesturing to the fan kid following me. " we where wondering if we could get some of these delicious pink roses I keep hearing about for a party we have planned later."

" I'm sure our pink roses will definitely make a wonderful party dish... But I'm afraid that I'm all out." She said. I put on a bit of fake disappointment. " but if you follow me I can bring you right to the store... It's not far." I fake smiled again.

"That sounds great." I said. She smiled and turned around and started walking. I followed her closely and the fanboy followed me even closer still oozing excitement. " so I hear you work for a mare called Seiko." I said.

" oh yes... Mother Seiko is the nicest mare ever... And she makes the best goodies."

" now I've always wondered... Does she make them herself right at the store."

" no... The stores are just places where us sellers can restock to bring to the streets... We have a kitchen base by the lake where my other sisters help our mother bake delicious treats." She said.

" alright... That makes much more sense." I fake smiled again and followed her. She eventually came up to a decently sized ornate building. It had a sign on it that said " mother Seiko's specials." It had the sign was designed as a pink rose with vines wrapping around the building. It was creative at the least.

" alright sir's." said the mare. " you can go in front and place an order." She said smiling as she left around the back. I waved and headed into the building. I walked through the doors and into the bakery. I find it a bit odd this is the only actual building structure I've seen in the camp. I walked up the the desk and the mare behind looked at me and smiled.

" hello how can I help you." She said.

" I'd like an order of a dozen pink roses." I said. She smiled brightly at my request.

" absolutely sir..." She said. " if you would please wait here while I get that for you." She left the counter and headed for a door to a back room. She opened it and walked into the back. I quickly took in the surrounding behind the door. As far as I could tell I saw trays upon trays of frozen pink roses. And something that looked like a large oven. As far as I could guess they must get shipments and freeze them then reheat them... So whatever is making people sick must be

Able to withstand extreme conditioning.

As the door closed a bone chilling breeze passed over me. It caused me to shiver a bit but the kid behind me seemed perfectly fine... Like I was the only one who could feel it. Even after the door closed I could still feel cold and freezing.

"Death... Killing... A great devoured dwell within." Said the strange voice from last night. It started making my head pound but I tried to ignore it. It was obvious to the kid though that I was becoming very uncomfortable here. " burn... Kill... Cleanse their sins with fire and darkness." Said the voice again. It kept chanting on about fire and death and a great devourer. My head was killing me but it cleared up immediately as the door to the back swung open again. I was still freezing cold but my head was all better now.

" here you go sir... One dozen pink roses..." She said. " that'll be one silver piece." I smiled and pulled a silver from my pocket and handed it to her. She smiled and I grabbed the roses. I carried them with me and me and the kid both left together. The second I stepped outside my chills left and I was perfectly warm again.

" so what was that all about..." He said. " are you at least going to let me have one of those things." He said reaching for the box. I quickly pulled it away.

" if I hated you then I'd let you eat them all... But I don't so you can't have any." I said. He seemed confused.

"Wait... What...what's going on, what's happening here." He said.

" you've no doubt noticed the plague spreading... Right." I said.

" yeah... I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick yet... I was thinking you would have left this place by now... That's why I was surprised to still find you here."

" tell me something... Have you had a pink rose yet." I asked.

"No... I don't have any money with me... I just live off of handouts and food I packed from home."

" good... And your healthy. do you know of any ponies that have eaten them." I asked.

" we'll there is this one guy I was traveling with who tried one." He said thinking.

" and how's he doing." I asked raising an eyebrow hoping he would have figured it out by now.

"We'll he's in the hospital... With..." He stopped for a second and his eyes widened. He looked at the ground then at the box of pink roses then back at the ground. " you can't honestly think the pink roses are the source of the sickness." He said.

" that's exactly what I think." I said throwing the box of food into a nearby garbage can. " so now you know what I'm busy with."

" alright but you still owe me some questions."

" alright but I want to ask you a question first." I said glaring down at him condescendingly " who are you." I asked.

" I'm black hoof from anvil hoof... My parents died in a raid a few years ago. And I'm an adventurer just like you." He said.

" alright... Now you can ask me questions." I said. He was about to explode out in questions but I stopped him quickly. " but I will only answer three questions... Then I've got something I want you to do." I said.

" hum alright..." He stopped and thought for a while but kept walking beside me. " alright my first question is how did you get your powers." He asked.

" my current powers." I asked.

" uh... Yeah." He said confusingly.

" we'll many don't know this but my shadow powers aren't the only powers I have. But I got those after being cursed from a hexed item. The demon tried take over my body and force my soul out but I was strong enough to resist and capture him inside of me."

"So you have more powers than just that." He asked.

" that's question two."

"Damnit." He said while I snickered.

" I was just going to tell you but since you wasted a question on it i'll tell you anyway." I said. " yes I do have other powers... After a problem I faced in ponyville I was outcastes for a while. I ventured to the badlands where I met a powerful god of light and peace he blessed me with holy powers as well..." Is aid.

" go on." Black hoof said eagerly.

" later on I made an adventure to the everfree forest where I discovered a lake. Inside the lake was a cave with. In there I met a group of mermaids who were trapped. I learned about their kind and left soon after. I returned not long after and discovered their old ruined temple... There I found an elemental gem and I absorbed its energy and power into me... Basically I have a great knowledge and power over water and the sea now." I said. Black hoof just seemed to be watching me talk and sponging up the information.

" that's way cool." He said.

" and what about your last question." I asked.

"you know... i've always wanted to know where you came from... you know... before ponyville." he said pondering.

"well i used to live in a small country to the north of equestria deep in the mountains. i served in the war and was a soldier... when me and my men came back from the front line we realized the order that we got was a distraction. a traitor in the ranks ordered our troops away and while we were fighting the enemy snuck in from behind and destroyed everything..." i said telling my fake story. "i as well as many others fled the country... that's when i moved to equestria."

"thats harsh." he said.

"i used to have a wife and daughter... i had to see their burning corpses." i said. i turned to him and looked him right in the eyes. "you will never understand what that's like." i said.

"i wouldn't say so." he said. i glared back at him harder. i was hoping to make him understand that being me isn't so great and maybe he'll lighten up. " my parents were both killed in a raid on anvil hoof... i was only 14 at the time and i had no other family." he said. my expression soon changed... i started to feel bad. "i had to live as a street rat until i turned 20 and could manage on my own."

"god... i'm sorry." i said feeling absolutely horrible. i was only more surprised when i saw a smile spread across his face.

"don't worry about it." he said. "i don't let it bother me." i just smiled back and kept walking. i managed to make a few more meters before he asked another question. "so what are you going to do now." he asked.

"well i'm not sure... i'm probably going to go to this kitchen complex that mare talked about and sneak around... if my suspicions are correct then i should have a fight on my hands by the days end."

"are you sure its going to be that easy." he asked.

"i never said it would be easy." i replied. "i can assume sneaking is going to be the easy part since i bear the element of darkness... but i probably won't make it out of the fight without some kind of damage."

"if you want i can help." said black hoof. i stopped and so did he. we stopped around a park with few ponies in it and a couple regular sized trees. i turned and looked at him. i looked at his bow and back at him.

"what makes you think you can help." i said.

"here watch." he said taking off his bow... he was a bit sloppy doing so but he got it off and used his wings to grab and ready the bow. he pointed it at a tree with a small knot in it. "betcha i can hit that knot." he let the arrow go and it hit the tree. he missed the knot but got pretty damn close. i just looked at him. i reached into my bag and pulled out my multi weapon which was now a sword. i taped the gem and it shone and phased into a bow. he just watched in amazement.

"you have to do what you can to take down an enemy." i said. i pulled on the bow and a shining blue arrow formed. i let go and hit the knot in the tree. it caused a small wave of energy from the impact and the arrow almost tore right through the tree.

"woah." he said.

"but you have to be willing to kill no matter what... if you don't kill you're enemy they will not hesitate to end you." i said. i used one of my shadows as a blade and cut clean through the tree. it slid a bit then toppled over and hit the ground. he stared at amazement and walked over to the halved tree. i followed close behind.

"you cut right through it..." he said.

"i've had to cut through thicker." i said now standing next to him at the stump. he looked at me and smiled. "you're pretty good with a bow but i would practice... normally you're targets aren't that small and the distance would have easily given you another shot at a closer range... but i would keep a knife on you incase they get too close." he looked at me and smiled. then that faded and he looked at my chest with a strange face.

"uhm... you're pocket... it's glowing." he said. i was confused. i looked down to see a cloth pocket from the undershirt i have on was emitting a faint red light. i cautiously reached in and pulled out the small stone from a long time ago. it was glowing red like that one night in oasis.

"the stone of gods." said the strange voice in my head. "the ultimatum of creation." it said again. i didn't get a headache this time but i felt strange. like i knew what to do. i looked past my hand at the tree. for a second i swear... i could hear crying. i listened close, and i was right. the tree was crying. the stone glowed a bit brighter... like it was calling the tree.

"what is that." asked black hoof. i didn't answer him. there were voices passing by my head. they kept telling me things. information like what to do and what i was holding. i could make out the info but soon enough other pieces of info replaced others and i couldn't hold it all in my head. subconsciously, as if by instinct i reached my hoof out and held the stone up to the tree. what happened next could only be described as amazing.

a glowing red stream of energy seemed to leak out of the stone like tentacles. they wrapped themselves around the dislodged half of the tree. and with literally no effort they seemed to lift the tree up and place it perfectly back on the stump and hold it there. several other streams of red light came from the stone and wrapped around the cut part of the tree. they swirled around it for a while and glowed bright red. then almost instantly the red tentacles became lifeless and faded into the air... the tree before us was now good as new and perfectly healed.

"how did you do that... what is that thing." said black hoof. i stared at the tree a few more seconds in amazement then i looked at the red stone in my hand which has stopped glowing and was once again a shiny red rock. "well what the hell is that thing." he said.

"a philosopher stone." i said staring at the gem.

"what's a philosopher stone." he asked.

"something i didn't think was real... and definitely something that i shouldn't be holding." i said. suddenly my head started pounding and it was filled with voices again. the pain caught me off guard and i collapsed to my knees with my hooves o my head gritting my teeth. the voices in my head started filling my minds with bits and pieces of information. all were random but they fit perfectly together into a strategic plan of attack. it also filled me with motivation.

"crap... are you okay." asked black hoof. i sprung up immediately and looked him in the eyes.

"i need you're help." i said.

"my help." he said. "why would you need my help."

"i need you to get me saltpeter from a gardening stand, sugar, water, bleach, and ammonia... can you remember that." i said.

"what?" he asked.

"i'm also going to need you to get string, wax paper, candle fuses, and some kind of flammable liquid." i said not knowing what this places options were on flammable liquids.

"why do you need these things." he asked. without question in handed him a bag full of silver and copper.

"heres the money, when you get these things i need you to wait for me by that kitchen complex place the mare told us about." i said ignoring his question again.

"wait." he said raising his voice. it seemed to get me to pay attention. "i'm not going to help you if you don't tell me what this is all for." he said. i walked over and smiled.

"i've got an idea." i said. "don't worry about the details... if you get me what's on this list, then it'll become clear when we meet up." i said handing him a list of stuff i wrote down in the confusion.

"oh...uhm alright... don't worry you can count on me." he said. i started running off.

"good then i'll see you 2 hours before nightfall." i said rushing away. i started dashing through the streets and eventually i spread my wings and took off into the air. i whirled by above the regular sized trees still having to dodge around some of the abnormally tall ones. i kept flying until i was right above mystee's camp. i clutched my wings together and fell to the ground. i landed on all four and it made the earth around me quake.

i quickly ran over to the large family wagon. i quickly pushed the flap out of the way and walked in. i saw that mirella was over in the corner looking very greenish and clutching her stomach and her face was still flushed a deep red. jericco was sitting next to her and ezekiel was here now. he had gotten up to see what the quake was... but it was me and it should be obvious now.

"crimson." said ezekiel. "your back."

"second time actually." i said rushing past him and over to the bed. "i was here this morning... sorry about mirella but i can fix this."

"you have a cure." said jericco perking up.

"no but i've got something that helps." i said as i was pulling random things out of my bag. i reached into my pocket and pulled out the philosopher stone.

"what are you talking about." said ezekiel. "why didn't you stay this morning and see us." i didn't hear much of what he said after that... i had schematics and equations running through my head... this must be what it feels like to be smart.

"i can't believe i didn't see it before." i said. "it was so obvious and i overlooked it."

"what are you saying." said jericco.

"crimson what do you know about this disease... if you know something you have to tell us." said ezekiel. "we have to help mirella

"i'm not sure about this disease that you're talking about but i can help cure the poison in mirella." i said. jericco and ezekiel both paused.

"p-poison." said jericco.

"of course..." i said still getting stuff together. right now i had a small cup of water that i was putting some salt into. " see if its poison then it can survive extreme conditions... it has to enter the stomach and travel through the blood... but i missed one detail... it doesn't move through the body at all."

"i have no idea what you're saying." said ezekiel who seemed angry and confused at the same time.

"it's just in the brain... it makes the victim believe they are sick and causes them to empty their bodies of stomach fluid and waste. then once the work is done it puts the brain into a self aware coma. it's beautiful." i said using my magic to heat up the cup until the water was hot. i put the cup down and grabbed the stone again.

i held it up to mirella and t started glowing. like before red streams of light flowed from the gem and covered over her. one stream started traveling its way down her mouth and throat. she shuddered a bit but laid there. the light caressed her body for a few seconds. then small green lights all over her body started forming and were being pulled together at her core. when they were all together they started moving.

they slowly crept up her chest and up her throat. she started to retch a little but remained calm. when the green glow was at her mouth the red light started pulling it out. it pulled out the light and it was gone from her now. i smiled as the light kept the green poison in the air. i held it to the cup of hot salt water and the light released it. the green liquid fell into the warm water and made a small splash. i looked over to mirella who was being filled with energy and color was returning to her body... i smiled. but i soon got up and walked away.

"what did you do... what is that." asked ezekiel.

"can't explain now." i said walking to a table and placing the cup down. "i have to go." i said walking away but i stopped and pointed at the cup. "don't drink that." and without bothering to listen i rushed out the door again and flew off into the air and above the tree's. i looked up into the sky. the sun was visible now and i could tell the time. after doing a bit of math and redirecting i concluded it was about 2 after 12.

after a bit of thinking i realized i might have sent black hoof to go and get me some poor ingredients. so i will have to get them on my own. i flew around for a bit and looked around at the ground scanning out shops until i found a blacksmith. i swooped down and landed right in front of the stand. the guy at the counter was a bit surprised when i landed but i can't blame him.

"uhm... hello sir. can i get you anything." he said.

"yes..." i said. "i was wondering if you sold bombshells."

"bombshells... what would you need those for." he asked.

"bombs." i said enthusiastically and not sarcastically.

"yeah i guess that was a stupid question to ask." he said rubbing the back of his head, he walked over to his arsenal of weapons and armour and opened up the top of a crate. he picked up an small shell and brought it over. "how's this." he asked.

he held the bomb up for me to see. i analyzed it over. it was made of iron so it would probably cause a bit of shrapnel. it wasn't thick either but it was small and barely fit the size of my hoof. it had a clip build onto it for a belt and it even already had a fuse in it. however with them being shells they were in two parts and would need to be soldered together. there was also a small socket for the gunpowder.

"how much." i asked.

"theyre 5 silver each." he said.

"great... i'll take 20." i replied taking out a gold bit and placing it on the counter.

"wait... really." he said.

"yeah." i replied with a smile.

"uh... well, okay." he said. he went and fetched the rest and i put them in my bag, all twenty. now i needed gunpowder.

"and how much blasting powder would it take to fill all of these." i asked.

"uhm... well not much." he said. "like probably... two pouches."

"and how much would that be." i asked. with every question he seemed to grow more and more confused and a bit worried too.

"uhm well... that would be...uh, 20 silver for both." he said. man bombs are expensive.

"i'll take it." i said. he jumped a bit.

"uhm... alright." he said. he went to the arsenal again and opened up another crate. he took out two pouches that looked like water sacks but with a metal nozzle and a cork. he brought them over and i had the money on the counter already. he grabbed the money, and I the blasting powder.

"thanks." i said and i put the blasting powder away and flew off. i rocketed through the sky proud that my plan was already ahead of schedule. i was surprised he had bombshells. i was just gonna buy some metal and shape it with magic originally but i had a feeling. so there are bombs here i'm going to be the one who perfects them. but i have two more things i need. i scanned around some more and i found the next shop i need to get get to. it was a tailor. i swooped down and landed in front of the stall.

"hello there." said the mare running it. "how can i help you."

"can i get 2 meters of cloth and some thread." i asked. she smiled and went to the back.

"what color dear." she said.

"black if you could... if not then it doesn't matter." she disappeared behind some holding racks and i waited patiently for a few minutes before she returned with a rectangular sheet of black cloth. it looked big enough.

"hows this." she said.

"perfect." i replied.

"alright and heres some thread." she replied putting black thread on the counter. "that will be three silver and 12 copper." she said. i dug around in my punch and pulled out the money. i grabbed the stuff and waved goodbye as i launched back into the air. i flew around for awhile until i came to the park i was in with black hoof earlier. i flew over to a tree and laid down by it on my hooves. i pulled out the cloth and thread.

i used my shadows to cut the cloth perfectly in half into 1 meter squares. i placed them over each other and made a double layer. using my basic knowledge of sewing from the time i used to date with rarity i was able to form a shadow into a sewing needle and start sewing. i tied the end and started weaving in and out. by the time i was halfway done though it had already been ten minutes.

it wasn't another ten minutes until i was finished and held it up. it was pretty good for my first attempt. i used my shadows to cut it in half one more time making them into rectangles again. then i cut both rectangles some more. i carve circles into the thin sides so there were sort of ties at the end. of course i wasn't smart enough to do this before i sewed it and now i have to resew it because i broke the thread... great. i let out a sigh and rolled my eyes before getting to the sewing.

it wasn't another half an hour before i finished sewing them. they were perfect. being in a rush and also being the lazy ass that i am i just left the scraps and yarn there to be somepony elses problem. i put my cloth creations in my bag and took off into the air. it was time to get to work now... there were still many things to do... many marvelous and beautiful things.

i flew around for some time until i came across the lake. it didn't take me long to find what i figured was the kitchen complex. there was a big house there kind of like an estate. it had a sign that read 'Mother seiko's Kitchen'. there were several other smaller but long building around in an encampment. they were surrounded by a thick and tall log fence. a bit excessive for a kitchen huh. i looked close by and saw black hoof sitting on a park beck close to the lake. i smiled and quickly swooped down and landed in front of him smiling.

"i got the stuff you wanted." he said tossing his bag on the ground. i grabbed it and walked further into the park until i was sure we were alone and completely anonymous. "so what are you going to do."

"how many candles and wax paper did you get." i asked.

"not much like three candles and a roll of wax paper." he replied.

"good." i said digging out the candles and roll of wax paper and throwing them away behind me. he seemed confused. "we don't need them anymore."

"alright... oh and heres the bucket too." he said handing me the bucket.

"perfect." i replied. "now this is going to be a delicate process so don't touch anything and be careful... you could kill us both." i said. when i said that his eyes widened and his ears dropped. the first thing i did was take out the water and sugar. i poured the water into the bucket and it filled it up halfway. that means it was about 2 liters of water. next i measured out four cups of sugar and added that. i used my magic to stir until it was well mixed.

next is the saltpeter. i grabbed the saltpeter which was in a surprisingly great quantity. i poured the whole bag in. its good to have a lot so that it blast travels further. then comes the dangerous part... bleach and ammonia. i noticed that these bottles were just cleaning products which was fine.

"now the trick to this is to add it slowly and in small amounts so you don't trigger the chemical imbalance." i said.

"what are we making." asked black hoof. i looked up from the bucket and smiled with an evil smile.

"chemical bombs." i said. he was silent. i went back to the concoction. "see the sugar helps keep the ammonia from coming into contact with the bleach. the sugars soaks up the bleach and at the same time repels the ammonia." i said. i kept pouring in the bleach and ammonia like i said... one at a time slowly and in small measures. once i was done we were left with a dark yellow liquid.

"what is that." he asked. i just laughed a bit. he tried backing up out of fear and stumbled a bit but caught himself.

"careful." i said. "if this bucket spills over you would have just sent a cloud of death over the whole camp... then the sickness would be the least of their problems." i said.

"but isn't that what you're doing." he said.

"not exactly." i said pulling out the stuff i got earlier. i looked at the sky and it was a deep red. i held up one of the bombshells. "see these are nice and small so any poison that comes from this will most likely dissipate before it goes far. and plus its light so it will most likely just rise into the sky."

"but you have so many." he said. i had already began the process. i used my magic to fill one half of the shell with the yellow liquid. i poured the blasting powder in and put the other half on i used my magic to the sauder it closed.

"i know that." i said after a pause to make the first bomb. "but i only plan on using a few... i'll save the rest for future use." i handed the bomb filled with liquid to black hoof. he grabbed it but he was reluctant to do so. "feel the liquid in it." i said.

"uh... yeah." he replied swerving it around a bit.

"now shake it." i said. he paused for a second but then obliged. he shook the grenade furiously but a sudden expression of shock passed over him and he stopped.

"it... the liquid... it's gone." he said. i chuckled.

"it's a gas now." i said. "when we set these things of and the shell breaks that pressurized gas will scatter and cover at least 15 feet of land."

me and black hoof spent the next hour making the bombs. i mostly made them and he just shook them up in the end. finally we finished with them and i put a few of the grenades on my belt. infact i had like 10 of them hanging from me. i turned to black hoof.

"did you also get the chalk and sea salt." i asked.

"uh yeah... what's that for." he said taking out a bottle of salt and a pack of board chalk.

"it's for the leftovers." i said gesturing to the bucket of liquid poison still one fourth full. i used my magic to crush the chalk into dust and mix it in the air with the sea salt. "can't just dump that out and kill half the camp." i said. i then sprinkled the salt and chalk mixture into the bucket. me and black hoof watched it bubble and fizz for a few minutes. soon though it stopped and it was now a more transparent yellow color.

"what did that do." he asked.

"disabled the poison." i said tapping to the bucket. "i could probably drink this now but i'm not going to." so instead i kicked over the bucket. the liquid flew out and ran across the grass. black hoof flinched a bit but when he noticed it was just a liquid now he relaxed.

"how do you know all this stuff." he asked.

"i've got a lot of secrets." i said. "now i'm going to do some sneaking first before we just burst in there and start chucking grenades... so hang tight." i said. he looked like he was going to say something but before he could i ran off and hid in the shadows. i quickly flashed by and by and jumped from shadow to shadow. i hit the main street and looked into the sky. it was getting dark, it would only be a few minutes before nightfall and the forest lights up.

as i was passing through shadows on the street i came to a stop when i saw something i didn't expect. it was mystee. she was walking around just looking around worryingly. i whisked by the ponies and popped out of a shadow right by here.

"mystee what are you doing here." she was startled a bit and jumped, right after she jumped she kicked me in the face. it let out a moan of pain and gripped my snout.

"you jerk... what the hell are you doing acting so crazy and keeping secrets." she said. "you're giving me a damn heart attack."

"i'm sorry but did you have to kick my face." i said.

"you deserve it." she said.

"probably for something." i said getting my shit together.

"what the hell are you doing here and... and... are those grenades strapped to you're chest." she yelled getting a bit angry.

"now mystee look..." i said.

"what the hell are you doing here." she said. i grabbed her shoulders.

"i can't tell you yet because you wouldn't get it." i said. "but you have to promise me you'll stay away from here and go home... i'll be back in the morning."

"did you take an arrow in the face while i was gone because you're acting different and crazy..." she said.

"just please trust me..." i said. "now go." i said. before she could say anything i vanished back to the shadows leaving only a puff of smoke in my shape that blew away and faded. i didn't pay much attention but she did turn around and go back. i was relieved and with how fast i was going i was at the gates of the kitchen complex in no time. they were closed.

not a problem for me however. i walked towards the gates and phased right through them like they weren't even there. i looked around and i could see lights on in all the windows. i decided to check out the closest building which was one of the long skinny ones to my right. i quickly whisked over there and phased through the wall. i walked in to see a huge kitchen. there were mares cooking and making pink roses. towards the back there were huge vats of something that where boiling.

i quickly walked over past the cooking stations and huge racks of cooling treats and over to one of the vats. i used my wings to silently flutter up to the top and sneak a peak. it was some strange liquid boiling in the vat. the others were empty. soon a buzzer went off.

"Time to get vat one ready for baking." said one mare.

"yes sister." said another mare. i watched that one mare walk over to a closet with a lock on it. she undid the lock and grabbed something out of it. it was a vial filled with glowing green liquid. she walked over to the vat and used a ladder to climb up and poured the whole thing in. i looked closer and i could tell it was the poison.

"mothers going to be proud of this next batch." said one mare. i had seen all i need to. i quickly left the building and went to the next skinny building. it was exactly the same. i checked every single one of the rectangular buildings and they were all the same. next i decided to creep into the plantation house. i walked up to the door and tried to phase through it... but i couldn't. i tried harder but there was something keeping me out... something evil. that's all the proof i need.

i quickly teleported out of there in a flash of black smoke and soon i was right next to black hoof again. my appearance seemed to really startle him and he jumped back and nearly had a heart attack.

"dammit." he said. "don't do that."

"sorry but it's getting late." i said looking up into the sky which was quickly fading from purple to black.

"well." he said. he wanted me to tell him what's going on.

"it's just as i thought... this place is poisoning the pink roses and feeding them to the gypsies... and by the size of the production rate i don't think it's going to stop at the camp."

"so what's the plan." he asked.

"we play it good guy first." i said. "we'll sneak in through the back and i can lift us over the fence... we're going to clear this place of the workers so nopony is hurt... after that we destroy their supply and the kitchens. if the workers resist leaving then try to force them out without killing them... if they attack us... then that's where the gas comes in."

"can i be honest with you." said black hoof.

"yeah sure." i said. i could see he seemed nervous.

"i really don't think i'm ready for this." he said. "i've been in fights before but nothing like this."

"hey don't worry." i said patting him on the back. "you'll do fine... and if it gets too dangerous or you're badly injured i'll teleport you out of there."

"you know... i always did dream about fighting along side with you." he said. i smiled.

"well are you ready to live that dream." i said. the sun was now almost gone and it was getting very dark.

"yeah." he said. at that moment the sun was gone and it was pitch black. no long after the forest lit up and everything was visible again.

"then lets go." i said with a smirk. we both crept around to the back of the kitchen complex right behind the long house next to the mansion. i handed black hoof the cloth craft i made earlier. i doused them with water and explained that its so we don't choke on our own poison. it's only a precaussion... i told him to be careful and not run into any gas clouds. we both put our masks on.

i put my hood up and he put up his cowl. i used my shadow powers to adorn myself with my shadowy armour for protection. i even managed to cast a suit of armour onto black hoof who was quite excited about it. it didn't take us long to get to the fence and soon we were behind the first long house.

i used my shadows and two large claws sprung up and lifted us over the fence and then lowered us onto the ground on the other side. we both crept silently to one side of the first building. luckily it had no windows on this side. i looked over to black hoof. i undid one of the grenades from my belt and handed it to him. he grabbed it and held onto it.

"i'll go in first... i'll try and get them to leave peacefully. if they resist i'll call out you're name and that'll be you're signal to come in and help. come in with you're bow drawn and we can try and scare them out... but if i yell out now... throw the grenade. don't bother with the fuse... i can use my powers to set the powder off from the inside."

"alright got it." he said.

"if you're caught rush in or yell out... k."

"right... good luck." he said. i smiled through my mask and nodded. i stayed low and kept to the shadows. i crept around the side and got to the door. i tried pushing it open but it wouldn't budge. too lazy to do anything else i kicked it open and the door flew open and hit the wall. there was an audible gasp from inside and then silence as i walked in and glared down the workers.

"you... you can't be in here... how did you get in." said one mare.

"mares..." i said trying to be gentlemanly. "i'm going to have to please ask you to leave."

"get out... you can't be here." they said.

"you don't seem to get it... i'm telling you to leave for you're own safety... if you don't care about you're safety then fine... neither do i." i said.

"we said leave." on said. she yelled out and black spiked vines shot out from under the floor and shot right at me. i can honestly say i was surprised, but i managed to dodge the attack. the vines scrapped again my shoulder pad but wasn't nearly tough enough to cut through.

the ground under me started shaking and cracking as more vines started to pop up. i watched as the mares eyes and bodies changed. the soon became plant like beings still in horse like shape. they had spikes covering them and they were glowing past the cracks in their vine covered bodies. i had a feeling they were going to attack.

"black hoof... Now." i shouted. without hesitation a small metal ball flew right through the window and bounced onto the floor. i ignited the powder inside and the whole thing exploded into and filled the entire building with yellow poison gas. the mares... or whatever they were were freaking out and shrieking. the vines that i could see were shriveling up and decaying instantly. it worked well.

i started coughing and hacking because even with the mask i still could barely breathe. plus my eyes had started watering. i needed to leave. i quickly found the door and ran to it. i ran out and into the night outside. i removed the mask and started taking deep breaths trying to get my breath back. i was also furiously rubbing my eyes.

"what happened." said black hoof behind me. i looked back at him. i looked past him and saw that the building had a decent hole in it from the blast.

"two things..." i said. "one the mare working here aren't ponies they're some kind of plant creature so kill on sight... second, the blast from the grenade was a bit bigger than i thought. so well just do a bomb run and blast the houses... no doubt they know were here now. so lets go." i said.

without hesitation i sprung up and ran over to the closest long house. i grabbed a grenade and tossed it into the window i waited a bit then set it off. the grenade exploded and the house burst with yellow gas. like before the creatures inside started shrieking and decaying. the mares from the other building had already started moving out with their bodies fully transformed.

"i see what you mean." said black hoof. he pulled an arrow onto his bow and fired it. it hit one of them clean in the head and it dropped and started rotting.

"nice shot." i said. i used my shadows to quickly defend against a few vines that had been lashed out at us. i then countered by slicing the two vine ponies in half with a different shadow. in that time black hoof had shot down two more mares. one of the vines went for him but he dodged and fired back. he missed and the mare charged him. i stopped her though by lashing out a spike from the ground.

in her charging roar the spike managed to pass right into her mouth and stab out the back of her head... pretty ugly. i cast up a trail of spikes that skewered three mares in front of me. i grabbed two grenades with my shadows and chucked them into the last two houses. i lit them up and the last two houses blew in a cloud of yellow gas.

next thing i knew however there were vines fly at me from every angle. i managed to teleport a couple feet into the air. the vines clashed and retracted as i fell. i hit the ground a several spikes shot out all around me skewering four mares trying to charge me. i looked over to see that black hoof was beating down other mares with his bow. i looked closely at the bow and noticed it had a concealed blade on it... smart.

i felt one of the mares vines wrap around my leg and start constricting. the barbs started cutting into my at my joints and parts were the armour didn't cover. i quickly however cut the vine and it fell off my leg. i immediately shot a spike put and skewered the mare controlling it. i swiveled behind me and shot out a wave of shadow along with a yell. the wave cut through several mare without effort before dissipating.

we continued to fight the mares for a while. we had already killed so many and i have no idea where they keep coming from. i was starting to sweat and i could tell black hoof was getting tired. i hadn't taken much damage just a bunch of cuts from the barbs... same as black hoof. he was a surprisingly good fighter.

"oh children." said a strange voice that echoed all around. it sounded loving and caring like a mother's voice but with a sadistic undertone. the vine mares stopped all their attacks and we did too. "why don't you come inside and let me talk to our guests." said the voice again.

the vine mares that were still alive were almost quaking in fear. they seemed very afraid, they charged at us relentlessly after we killed so many of them and this kind and loving voice is causing them to shake with fear... i don't think i like this. i could tell the voice was coming from the house but they dare not look back and see.

"y- yes mother." they all said simultaneously. they turned and quickly ran to the house. the ones behind us just ran past me and black hoof and to the house. when they made it to the house they didn't actually go into the house they just ran over to the back. soon enough it was just me and blackhoof standing in front of the house. it was dead silent except for the sound of panic and questioning behind the gates to this place.

"black hoof i think you should go and hide." i said.

"no..." he said. "we can take her together." i didn't say anything else. i watched the house eagerly and soon the creaking of a door broke the silence. the front door swung open and from the darkness inside emerged a mare... probably seiko if i had to guess. she had red fur and light brown hair with black swirls in it. her hair was big and poofy. and she had a cutie mark of a pick rose. she was much bigger than most mare in the case that she was both fat and tall.

"how rude of guests to come and ruin my house and pick on my girls." she said. "i hope you plan on cleaning this up."

"oh shut you're face bitch." i said. "i hate it when scum like you plays the role of something you're not... why don't you drop the act and show us you're true colors." i said. i stared at her and she stared back with her burning red eyes.

"that was quite rude young colt... you need to be taught some manners." she said. before i could say anything my head started to pound.

"look away from her eyes... they will steal you... look away." said the strange voice. i looked from her eyes and i could feel a presence leave me that i hadn't noticed before. it was almost scary. i don't think she noticed i looked away.

"it's time to teach you two some manners." she said. "now... SIT." she barked out. i glared at her still not making direct contact with her eyes. black hoof however sat down on the ground like an obedient dog. she looked at me with confusion and anger. "i said sit down young stallion."

"not me bitch... if you want me to sit you're going to have to walk over here and cut my legs of yourself... but until then... fuck you." i said. she seemed to be growing more impatient and angry. hopefully she would snap and show us what she really is. if those mares weren't ponies my bet is that she isn't either.

"stubborn are we." she said. "fine... oh mr. black hoof... please take an arrow from you're quiver." she said.

"yes mother." he said. his surprise shocked me.

"black hoof what are you doing." i said looking over to him. when i saw his face i was shocked. his eyes were almost as big as his hoof and he was staring right off into seiko's eyes. he reached behind him and pulled out and arrow and held it next to him.

"good colt... now please put the tip to you're neck." she said. i glared over her in anger and grit my teeth but she was just smiling.

"yes mother." said black hoof.

"damnit black hoof quit it." i said. but he resisted me. he took the tip of the sharp arrow and pressed it against his neck still with a black expression. "black hoof snap out of it." i said. i tried to rush over to him and stop him but a huge wall of sharp and jagged vines broke from the ground and stopped me. they traveled all the way from seiko. "damnit."

"now mr. black hoof." would you please-

"NOOOOO." i yelled out. with that i burst into an explosion of darkness... my whole body like once before glowed a deep black and seemed to suck the air from around me fueling me and giving me strength. i let out a roar. my voice sounded like it was being spoken by multiple beings. when i roared i lashed out two shadows. one shot up and took the arrow from black hoofs hooves. the other one broke from the ground near seiko and slashed her across the face. she shrieked and turned her head while putting a hoof on the wound.

black hoof snapped out of it and tried to say something but i had decided it was getting too dangerous and teleported him outside the gate. now it was just me and seiko. i was still standing here a swirling mass of darkness and light. she just started laughing though. she turned to me and i saw that i had cut much deeper than i thought and if i had gone any further i would have take the top half of her head off. but she was laughing.

"ok honey..." she said. "you want my true colors... you can have them." she said. she put all hooves on the ground and started gritting her teeth. i watched as her eyes started rolling back into her head and something started pressing against her back. she lifted up one hoof and i could see the skin start to tear... little did i know how bad this was going to be.

the skin ripped off revealing a dark black and scally claw with shard black nails. he skin fluttered to the ground like paper. the same happened to the other hoof. i watched as her teeth started sharpening into fangs. she was laughing and moaning in pain at the same time. she closed her eyes and they opened up as solid red circles. then several other smaller eyes opened up on her head.

something started poking at her head and soon enough two spikes prodded out from her head on both sides. they kept growing and curved around the sides of her head and made horns. soo a rift in her skin all the way from her tail to the top of her head formed. spikes started shooting out from her back and soon became clear to be legs. they were spider legs. the whole time she was oozing some kind of black sludge.

from the skin emerged a black mass of goo and sludge. she was finally done. she was the most beautifully hideous thing i've ever seen. she looked like a centaur but instead of horse and man she was a spider and a woman. she had clack scales all over the human parts except for the chest and stomach which were bare naked. she had spines like a dragon running from her thick, long black hair down to her spider body. she had an evil smile on her face and she laughed.

"is this what you wanted." she said.

"what the fuck are you." i said.

"my real name is mazzesi-seiko." she said in a new evil voice. "i am one of several demon queens that rule the plains of the underworld." before she could continue there was a large banging at the gate... soon enough it was forced open by all the ponies on the other side. at first they seemed to be ready to fix whatever was going on... you should have seen their faces. both me and seiko looked at them and some of them pissed their pants on the spot. "you foolish ponies make such a tasty snack." she said as the other ponies ran from the gates.

"so i take it that was you're poison." i say.

"you're much smarter than i presumed... yes it is." she said. "it paralyzes the body but leaves them fully aware so when i come and make a meal of them they can feel every single agonizing moment as the blood is drained from their pathetic bodies."

"tell me the antidote." i said roaring out my request. she just laughed sadistically.

"alright i'll tell you." she said. "but only because i've grown a strange fondness for you." she paused for a minute and i stared her down. "if you want to fix you're friends all you have to do is kill me... but..." before she could continue i interrupted her.

"alright." i said monotonically and almost immediately i fired another shadow from in front of her that slashed her right across the stomach... she moaned in pain then started laughing.

"it's going to take more than that fool." she said uncupping her claws from the wound. it was growing back almost instantly. she started laughing again. she raised her claw and from the darkness and shadows a smoke appeared around her hand. the smoke soon started to take for and made a spear. the pole was wrapped in vines and the blade was long and sharp. below the blade was a symbol of a spider... it looked a lot like spider man's logo. she swirled it around a bit and pointed the blade at me.

it was only until now that i realized that she's at least ten feet tall and towers over me. this wasn't going to be easy... but i already anticipated for that. i let out another roar and was surrounded again in a wave of darkness. i charged at her but she stayed still. when i was close enough she slashed her spear at me. but i teleported from the strike and ended up right behind her. i was actually above her thorax. i let out a roar and used my shadows to pierce through the top of her and lunge all the way through. she yelled out in pain.

she started to buck a bit but the human half of her seemed to be able to rotate around and see me. she reached out her arm and grabbed my leg. she quickly lifted me up and threw me at the ground. i hit the ground and made a small crater. but i took almost no damage. she reached down again and grabbed my neck and held me up to her. she roared at me and showed her teeth and clenched my neck tighter.

i shot out a bunch of shadowy spikes from my body that skewered her in several places. she yelled out and pulled back but didn't let go. instead she pulled back and threw me. as i whirled by i could make sense of the gate as i whirled by. i few for a few more seconds before i hit the ground and various other things before stopping. i got up and saw i had torn through several carts and wagons. i quickly dashed back to the main street.

i started running then i began flying. i was a good 400 meters from my original start. she started creeping forward too. i built up speed and started giving of black sparks of electricity. a barrier formed around me and soon broke in a black explosion that looked like static. soon i was tearing through the air covered in black static energy like a comet. it wasn't long until i reached seiko. she looked at me and seemed worried.

i hit her dead center and tore right through her and she fell. i stopped and looked back at what i had done. i noticed that she was missing a lot of... well... her in the middle. she got up anyway. she was wincing though so it must have done something. i looked at the hole in her stomach.

soon a few strands of muscle shot from opposite sides and connected in between the hole. then another and then more and more. soon enough the skin and scales started growing back and within less than a minute she was perfectly healthy. she was still wincing though.

"damn you..." she said. "that really hurt." she jet out her hand and vines shot from it. they wrapped around me and started constricting. the barbs were much sharper and they cut through my armour and started cutting me. i yelled in pain a quickly severed the vines. i dropped to the ground and the vines fell from me.

she started setting out a fury of vines to lash and cut me but i blocked ever one. i set out some of my own attacks when i could but they were blocked as well. it was the perfect stalemate.

"do it..." said the strange voice... no not now. "combine the elements of darkness and light... she will fall, the great devourer will feast no more." said the voice. i thought i was already doing that... what kind of power could i unlock with that.

i concentrated and tried to use some of my light powers while using my dark powers. the dark energy and spikes shooting up around me started to gain streaks of white in them. i tried using a bit of light and it worked... the outcome however... was far more volatile.

the ground all around me and everything seemed to just... well shatter. light shone through and brightened everything up. my armour and magic started glowing with streaks of white and black that seemed to mix creating a very light grey. my eyes started glowing brightly. i felt a great power wash over me and i roared out.

a huge blast of energy exploded from my body greatly damaging seiko and her vines. the energy wave passed around everything around me and over the entire camp... somehow nothing was damaged. i had my eyes closed for the moment but when i opened them i saw what i had become.

i was covered in golden and armour with black decoration. i had full plate mail on with a shadow chain link armour under it. the magic around me was glowing white but with a black outline that radiated and glowed. i was wearing a crown on my head. spik stuck up and poked out of the hood while some other spikes were pointing down and covering my forehead... it looked like the thorns jesus wore.

the symbols all over my body glowed white but also with a black outline. my eyes were glowing a pure white again with a black outline. i had a giant pair of white glowing wings. they were made of pure light and sparkled with energy. just like the halo above my head. shone so brightly that everything in my sight was shining like day. i looked up to see the black vortex of light and shadows above me were the energy been around me met the sky.

"no...no no no... you filthy maggot... you can't be." said seiko laying on the ground slowly getting up. i looked at her. "i won't let you take me... DIE." she yelled out. she sent out a cascade of vines. they lunged forward at me but never made it. they hit the wall of light surrounding me and instantly disintegrated.

from behind i brought up several blades of energy. i slowly loomed them overhead and pointed them right at her. she seemed to be breaking down at this point. i started inching them closer.

"no no no... i won't let you have me... you can't." she said over and over. i lunged my blades forward and they all pierced her almost instantly. she yelled out in pain and then grew silent. she started gurgling and coughing up blood. i pulled the blades from her and she rolled onto her back.

her spider legs started to freak out and slash at the air while she had her claws over a large wound right through her cest. she choked out a bit more blood and then the human half of her went limp. the spider legs curled up like a dead spider and i knew she was dead. but before i relaxed she started to glow a bright white hue.

to my surprise a bolt of white lightning fired off of her body and connected with me. my head was filled with memories that weren't my own. another bolt fired from her and hit me again. i was once more filled with different memories... they were seiko's memories. several bolts of white lightning fired from her and most connected with me... some shot off and hit other things.

i bright energy started warping from her body and passing over to me. as the energy was past to me her body stopped glowing and shooting off lightning. the white glowing energy wrapped around my body and started leaking into me. soon it pressed against me and became one with my body. i felt even more energy and strength fill my body if that was possible at this point.

when it was over the barrier of energy left and the sky returned to normal. it was just me now... a glowing mass of light and darkness. i went to walk only to notice that i was lightly floating a few inches from the ground. i touched down and the ground beneath me shattered and light shone through the cracks.

i looked over to seiko's body to see that there was something glowing by it. i walked over to the body to see what it was. as i walked the ground broke around me and light shone through but fixed itself behind me. i got to seiko's body and saw the glowing was coming from a gem lying in her mutilated body.

i picked it up and held it in my hoof. it was a green diamond shaped gem that radiated some kind of energy. i seemed to be able to teleport all my possessions right to me and suddenly my bags were on my back. i put the gem in the bag. i flapped my huge glowing wings and the breeze cause a few loose object to move in the wind.

i looked back to see that my hair was now a long and flowing golden blonde while my fur was pure white. i started to walk forward to go back when i noticed literally almost the entire gypsy camp in a crowd staring me down with awe and shock... i didn't know what to do.

i took one step forward and the whole crowd took a step back. i stopped and looked over the crowd. i could tell that from my point of view i must have grown at least another foot... i must be huge now. i went to say something but before i could a few of the ponies in front got down on their knees and bowed. they were soon followed by others and soon all the ponies were bowing. i didn't know what to do.

"why are you bowing." i said. i stopped at the sound of my voice. it was much deeper and commanding but loving too. it was different but still somewhat resembled my voice. i tried turning of this light or whatever or stop my powers but i couldn't figure out how. i spoke up again. "somepony tell me why you are bowing." i said sounding a bit more demanding this time. i waited and soon one brave pony spoke up.

"you saved the camp my lord." said one... my lord?

"that wave of light... it cured all the sick." said another pony.

"then you defeated that evil demon." said one more pony.

"you have saved us lord." said one pony. then soon enough more said it and soon they were convinced i was their god.

"no stop." i said. "don't worship me as a god." i said. i tried convincing them but the crowd was far too riled up and loud even for me. "don't worship me... stop" the crowd was still too much and they even started to crowd around me.

before they could get all around me i closed my eyes and teleported away. when i teleported i vanished in a cloud of light and dark smoke followed by a large beam of white light that pierced the sky signaling were i had been. instantly i found myself inside a wagon. or it looked like a house but i made it to be mystees family wagon. i burst in their in a flash and puff of white smoke. my wings were spread eagle and still glowing.

i looked around and just as i would have figured nopony is in here. i'm not sure if they know yet but they probably went to see what was going on near the lake. i probably would have too. i let out a sigh and walked to the wagon door. i got to it and it took me a bit to get through. i could barely squeeze through it now. when i did get outside i looked around to see almost nopony was around.

they must all be figuring out what's happening... gossip is probably already spreading and i won't be able to make it out of here in less than an hour without getting found out... i should probably leave soon.

"i'm starting to regret spending so much time here... now i'm going to miss this place." i said outloud. i let out a sigh.

"if you like it so much then why are you leaving so soon." said mystee who was watching me from the side. i was a bit surprised to see her.

"because i don't belong here." i said. "hell i'm not sure if i belong anywhere now."

"i know." she said. "i watched the whole thing through my mothers crystal ball."

"so you do know." i said.

"i know that whatever you are.. you don't need to be afraid of it." she said. "theres no way something like this could possible be bad." she walked closer to me. i could see that she was blushing. she started taking more and more steps closer to me. almost instantly the glowing armour on my broke off and turned to light dust and the black chain mail burst into shadows and the hood and crown went too.

the glowing aura around my wings vanished revealing my huge white wings that were still the same wingspan. my eyes stopped glowing and the symbols on my body glowed less but still glittered with light so they were visible. the halo above my head stayed however. and my coat and mane didn't change back. mystee walked right up to me and placed her head against my chest. it was obvious that i was far much taller now as i had to look down at her. she was so warm and soft... she seemed to make everything better. i leaned my head down and ut i next to hers and gave her a light hug.

"come with me." she said pulling away and going to one of the wagons. i walked over and she walked in past the tent flap. i got to the door and there was no way in hell i was fitting through it. so i waited for a few seconds and teleported right in but this time without the beacon of light. i sprung up inside to find that the room inside was much bigger than it was outside. i looked around and it looked like this is her own wagon.

"what did you want to show me." i asked. she walked over to a desk and picked up a necklace.

"do you remember this." she said holding it up.

"it's the necklace i bought you." i said. i looked at it closer and saw it was leaking some kind of energy that was faint and hard to see. "it's enhanced." i said in surprise. mystee smiled.

"my mother enhanced it... after the scorpion attack in the desert she made the enchantment." said mystee. "i asked her to do this... the necklace is bound to you and whenever you're close to death or in danger you'll be teleported right here... to this necklace and me."

"why would you do that." i asked. mystee walked over and up to me again and smiled.

"because i care about you." she said. i smiled back at her. i lowered my head and gave her another hug. she pulled away and instead planted a deep kiss right on my lips. i'm not sure what it was was but i seemed to have been taken by her passion. my coat and mane returned to their original colors but the symbols and halo remained. i was still huge as well.

keeping her lips on mine mystee managed to pull me back over to a pile of bedding over on the floor. she pulled me back and laid down.i laid down next to her and she sprawled on top of me. she kissed me again and used her back hooves to start massaging my cock until it was hard and ready to go.

she grabbed it and lined it up with her pussy. without much hesitation she started rubbing it up and down her lower lips and soon pushed the tip in. the let out a moan of both pain and pleasure... i could already tell i was going to be too much for her... but i don't think she cared.

she pushed down a bit more and then some more. bit by bit she pushed down until she reached half way. i could already feel from inside of her that she couldn't take in anymore. so she stopped and just slowly started grinding up and down slowly moving her hips only a little. she started moaning and biting her lip. i have to admit that she was pretty tight and it felt amazing.

she soon pulled her hips up and started bucking them up and down. she yelped a bit in pleasure but she got used to it quickly. and soon she was bucking her hips up and down on my cock as far as she could go. feeling something take over in me a grabbed her sides and flipped her over on her back. she seemed worried.

"please..." she said. "be gentle.". in all the times i've had sex i don't think i've ever heard that one. it was really turning me on, but i didn't want to hurt her so i started bucking my hips harder and faster. she laid on the bedding sprawled out, moaning and biting her lip. i kept above her pushing and trying to be gentle but i was growing a little faster and harder with every couple of seconds. i had to keep myself hoisted up so i don't crush her.

"oh yes... faster." she said. i grunted and started pumping faster and faster. she moaned more and more and let out a huge moan and quivered a little. i take it she came. i was close too. i kept pumping harder and faster while she just moaned and rolled her head. it was easy to tell she was a bit overwhelmed... but i don't think this was her first time.

"i'm going to burst." i said. i pumped a bit harder and fast for a few more seconds then i let out a moan and shot my load right into her. she filled up quickly and cum started pouring out of her. when i could tell i was finished i slid my cock out of her and more cum drained out from between her legs. i noticed it was quite a mess so i used my magic to clean it up... basically by making it vanish.

i looked down to mystee and saw she must have over excited herself and had passed out. she had a smile on her face... sometimes i wish i didn't make such a big impression on ponies... but other times i wish i did. i started to feel waves of exhaustion pass over me and i laid down next to mystee.

i closed my eyes and tried to focus on something happy. it was hard since my mind was so full of thoughts and questions. i needed to know what i was now and what that was with seiko. then after that... i think it would be time for me to continue with my quest to blackmarsh. it wasn't long until i fell right to sleep and started dreaming. i started dreaming about being with rainbow dash and scootaloo and dawn at the park in ponyville. i was playing with them and having fun... and my friends were there too.

****at least i'm normal in my dreams...

-Authors Note: order of events: figure out secret conspiracy, plot and execute and brilliant plan, kill bad guy, become a god, fuck bitches... hell yeah. so the new character Black Hoof is an Original Character made by:**Drednex. **he sent me the idea through a PM and i liked it. ive also got a few other OC's that i might bring into the story... one of which is coming up in a few chapters. but yeah so i'd definitely say that this chapter shames all other chapters. so keep reading and see what crazy shit happens next and what truths crimson will unlock on his journey... stay shady.-End of Note-


	76. Chapter 76: The Lonely Road Forward

I woke up later on feeling perfectly rested and ready to get up and go. i didn't feel like i needed a coffee or anything this time... considering last night's events. i sat up and then got onto my hooves. i looked down by me and saw mystee curled up and still sleeping. i looked at my coat and saw that i was still me... but that didn't last long.

soon the deep red of my fur faded to white and my hair bleached a golden blonde and it seemed to always be flowing next to me... almost like celestia's but not quite as long. i let out a sigh. little specks and streaks of light dust emitted from nowhere and wrapped around my body. they hardened into that golden armour from before and under it black smoke hardened into shadowy chainmail.

the light finished hardening into body armour and soon started weaving itself into a good and cloak with black decorations on it. mostly just spikes and streaks. then the last of the dust wrapped around my forehead and hardened into a thorn crown. i looked at myself and at the transformation i had went through. i wish i didn't have to wear this... but i don't have much control over it. and as a stroke of luck my wings once again faded and became pure light.

i let out a deep sigh and looked back to mystee. she was still somehow fast asleep. i turned over to the door which still was far too small. i let out another sigh and just sit down in the middle of the room. it wasn't long though before a bit of life seemed to spark inside mystee's sleeping body. she shuffled around and bit and yawned. she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"morning." i said in a monotone voice. she let out another yawn and scanned around the room. she saw me sitting down across the room from her. she smiled.

"good morning." she said... "i'm sure the rest of the family is up and getting ready to go to work... why don't we go join them for breakfast."

"alright." i said. she smiled and got up. she went over to the desk she had and grabbed a comb. she held up a mirror and combed out her hair. she smiled again and trotted over to the door and then out of the wagon. i waited a second then teleported myself outside. almost instantly i was now sitting on the ground outside. i got up and looked around.

luckily nopony knew that i was at this camp... but i don't want to stay out and draw too much attention. i glanced over and saw mystee head inside the family wagon. i walked over and stepped up to the door. i was big enough to step right into the wagon instead of on the steps. i pushed my head in and then squeezed the rest of my body in. i looked over to the center table. i saw everypony was gathered at the table including mystee who was just sitting down.

they were all looking at me completely aghast... except for jericco and mystee. i looked again and saw the guard from the other day and to my surprise black hoof as well was here. his presence here was a bit strange. they all remained aghast and i slowly walked over with my head sulking a bit. i walked to the table and took a seat between mystee and the guard. i felt like a clumsy, sulking, giant... i probably was now. i was a foot taller than everypony.

"is there uh... maybe something you want to tell us mystee." said jafiri who was sitting right next to her.

"you don't recognize him." said mystee. jafiri looked past her and over to me. i looked him back with my pale, blind eyes. his eyes in return grew wider.

"those eyes... holy shit it's crimson." he said.

"he's not very crimson anymore." said ezekiel with a witty undertone. i slashed him a cold look that seemed to chill the whole room. he didn't say anything else.

"yeah..." i said. "it's me... shocking right."

"what happened during that fight." asked black hoof from the other side of the table. "you never mentioned this."

"it's new..." i said. "i have no idea how to turn it off..."

"even still." said the guard next to me... "i don't remember the armour or the color."

"also new." i said.

" and you've grown at least a foot." said jericco taking a sip from his bowl of soup.

"yeah you're huge now!" said ezekiel.

"again... new." i said. we all sat there in a bit of awkward silence. mirella had gotten me and mystee some food. she started chowing down on it but i wasn't very hungry... infact i felt perfectly fine. i'm not all groggy and disgusting like i usually am in the morning... i felt perfectly energetic. finally somepony broke the silence.

"so what's next." said ezekiel.

"well..." i said. "i'm probably going to gear up and head out today..."

"where are you going." said jafiri.

"blackmarsh." i said. mystee seemed to pause and the smile on her face faded quickly. she looked up at me.

"you can't already be leaving..." she said.

"thats right." said jericco. "we think of you as family now."

"well that was a very foolish thing to do." i said. "you knew as well as i that this day would come... and you should be lucky i didn't just head off right from oasis."

"you... you're right." said jericco. the whole mood of the table shifted from happy to sad in a few seconds. we sat there in silence for a moment... then black hoof spoke up.

"well i'm going with you..." he said standing up... mystee stood up too... and so did ezekiel.

"well i'm going too." said mystee

"as am I." said ezekiel. i stood up higher than any of them.

"NO..." i boomed causing the whole waggon to shake. i looked over to ezekiel. "your job is to protect this family..." i said to him. next i looked to mystee. "you need to stay here instead of getting killed..." i said to mystee... next i looked at black hoof. "and you need to go home... to you're friends and family." i yelled out. all three of them sat back down... mystee looked like she was about to cry.

in my fit of rage and protection i had noticed i was starting to shine brightly and leak energy. i looked at mystee who was on the verge of tears and it made me feel horrible. i stopped shining and the energy leaking from me faded. i let out a deep sigh.

"i'm sorry... but this is something i must do alone." i said in a calm soothing voice. it seemed to stop mystee from crying. "i promise i'll visit on my trip back..." i said. she seemed to lighten up a bit.

"alright..." she said. "im... i need to go... i've got something to do." she said as she ran from the table and out of the wagon quickly. she probably needs to be alone. before i could speak up again there was a knocking on the wagon. jericco got up and walked over.

"i've got it..." he said. he walked over to the tent flap and stuck his upper half outside. i couldn't hear much past the flap and i didn't want to. i heard a bit of mumbling then jericco stepped back inside. "uhm... crimson it's for you." he said. i let out a deep sigh.

"i don't like this." i said. i flashed and soon i was outside by the firepit. i looked over to the door to see two guards with dark purple armour on. their armour however was decorated with gems and jewels. they had large ornate spears and other gear... they looked rather professional. the flash of the teleportation seemed to attract them and they turned around. they looked at me and they had to fight back the urge to drop their jaws.

"are... uhm..." he stopped and cleared his throat. "are you the one called crimson blast." he said. he was nervous, both of them were. they were shaking and sweating... then again i have become very imposing. i stared at them for a little and it must have been like torture for them.

"yes." i said. "i am crimson blast... how do you know me and what do you want?" i asked.

"the...t-t-the high seer has requested you're presence in karvadan." he said holding up a note. it was gold decorated and ornate looking with a royal wax seal on it.

"karvadan huh... that's too far away... i don't have time for a detour." i said.

"wait... what. did you just refuse." said the second guard.

"yes i did... i have more important business elsewhere that need my attention as soon as possible." i said. i glared back at the two of them and they seemed to be growing a bit more impatient.

"it is very unwise to turn down the high seer of oasis." said the first guard.

"i'm sure it is..." i said. "but if i recall it was an invitation, not a demand... so my answer remains the same... NO." i said more vigorously and determinedly. i started taking a few steps closer and closer to the guards.

i watched as their head move up so they could keep eye contact with me. with every step their previous ambition and impatiens seemed to grow thinner and thinner until i was sure there was nothing left. i stared at them with an intimidating and angry stare. soon enough i was practically on top of them and stared straight down at them. their heads didn't even make it up to mine. this was starting to get a bit ridiculous with these new changes. but it just felt so... right.

"tell the high seer that i have no quarrel with him... but i will not waste my time travelling to karvadan." i said with a threatening voice. i hadn't noticed but my eyes had stopped showing and they were just all a glowing white now. "if the high seer wishes to see me then he can come to me..." i said. i stared at them for a few more seconds then they started backing away.

"w-w we... w-we will have the... the message to him before noon..." said the one guard shaking and stuttering. "good day." he said. right after they both ran off with great speed. it wasn't long before they were out of sight behind trees and buildings. i smiled. i don't think they could possibly get it to him by noon... could they. then again this city is huge... they must have some way of getting around quickly.

i pulled my hoof up and took off my hood. as i put my hoof down i felt it bump something and my armour shaked. being as curious as i am i looked down. to my surprise i had bumped my elbow on the hilt of a sword... my sword apparently. i had never noticed this before. when i looked over my armour i started noticing weaponry and gear everywhere.

there was a leather bandolier around my chest with throwing knives hooked into it. i had a utility belt that held many pockets as well as a pair of twin knives and a huge sword. it would be a to hoof weapon for most ponies but i grabbed it and unsheathed it perfectly fine with one hand. i looked down to see the blade and i saw that on my legs were more weapons. there was a smaller knife on each hoof around the upper leg and also bolts... for a crossbow. it didn't take me long to notice the crossbow which was folded up and hiding under my cloak, strapped to my back.

i also noticed behind me was strung an incredibly ornate bow. it had two large limbs as well as two other sets of limbs with blades for accuracy and close range. also there was a quiver filled with arrows. the feathers for the arrows were in different colors and put into groups. there was black, white, red, and blue. the quiver was broken up into four sections were these arrows were divided. i turned my attention back to the sword.

i looked at the sheath and it was a metal sheath with ornate black and gold decorations and designs on it. next i looked at the sword. the hilt was strong and creative. it had a lot of spikes and curves but seemed simple. it was decorated with black designs. the sword blade looked majestic and royal. it caught the light and sparkled a golden white. i put the tip of the blade on the ground. what happened next was scary.

i started to ease my grip on the sword and gravity did the rest. as the sword touched the ground it started sliding right into the dirt... like there was nothing there. i was startled and let go of the sword. the blade plunged right into the dirt and passed through it like nothing was there. it only stopped because the hilt hit the ground. i grabbed the hilt and pulled the sword out of the dirt.

the blade and sword remained perfectly clean and the ground now had a hole in it shaped like the top of my sword. i walked over to the fire pit for a test. i put the blade of the sword up against a log. i then applied only a little pressure and the blade cut right through in seconds. this thing just cut through stuff like air... it was amazing... i assumed all my other things did that too.

"having fun..." said a voice next to me. i looked over and saw it was jericco. he seemed to have been watching me for the past minute.

"uh... sorry." i said.

"you know it wasn't very smart to turn down an invitation from the high seer like that." he said... alright maybe he'd been watching me for the past FIVE minutes. "i'm not sure what you think but the high seer of oasis is the most peaceful and enlightened stallion in the world outside of equestria."

"i'm sure he is..." i said. "and i did act harshly... i think you can understand why."

"i very well can." he said. "you must be under a lot of stress and trouble..." he said. he didn't even know the half of it. "i'm sure this new transformation of yours will drastically change you're life in almost every aspect."

"so you do get it..." i said. "you're the first one who actually understands."

"i'm sure you have a lot of questions right now... but if it helps i can tell you the answer to you're biggest question." he said.

"what..." i said getting excited. "what do you know.. tell me please." i begged.

"i can tell you what you are." he said. i could feel my heart skip a beat inside of my chest.

"tell me..." i said.

"well i did some research and i figured out what you are based on everything i know about you... i wasn't sure before so i didn't tell you." said jericco. "but what you have become now proves my theory."

"what am i jericco... please tell me... i have to know." i said.

"your what ancient ponies called a multi-being." said a strange voice from behind me... before i turned and saw i noticed a barrier of energy close over me and jericco. i finally looked back to see an old pony in robes. he had a long white beard and hair with light brown fur. his robes were made of dragon scales and were decorated with patterns and designs. he had some very interesting and enhanced jewelry on

"oh my god." said jericco.

"these multi being were also called the great devourers... they later went on to be called different things. the ones that had become evil and full of spite remained the great devourers... the ones who were kind and loving were called omni-gods." said the strange stallion. he lifted his head up and i could see his eyes past his hood. there were blind like mine and jericco's. i looked back at jericco who was now on his knees

"who are you." i asked the strange robed pony.

"crimson..." said jericco. "thats the high seer... quickly bow." the strange pony just laughed lovingly.

"is this true." i asked.

"yes you're friend speaks the truth... but i would have you not bow to me jericco of klasderal." if my knowledge was correct his use of the name klasderal meant it was his home town. i guess that's the name of their old village. jericco hesitantly got back on his hooves. " if anypony should be bowing it should be me to you crimson." he said.

"it's an honor high seer." i said being polite as i was clearly wrong about him from what i presumed. i bowed my head and he smiled. "can you tell me more about what i am." i asked.

"well of course." he said. "it all began eons ago with the first omni god dalvenith... he used his powers to shape the world and keep the darknesses of the underworld from taking it over." he said.

i listened closely to his story and paid attention. it was hard however since i was so excited to be learning about what i am. this had been a question i needed answered for a long time... but i could never find the answer.

"after dalvenith... more and more multi beings started showing their faces... all up until one million years ago when the great lord and omni-god mascalius gave up his life to banish all the great devourers from the world. at this time the world came to an end of chaos and destruction and peace shone through... there have been no other multi-beings... until you." he said.

"the history was great but i need to know what an omni-god is." i asked. he smiled and chuckled a bit.

"well you see... a multi-being is an all powerful entity. they're souls are stronger than anypony could imagine. they have the ability to absorb power from artifacts and use their abilities as their own... whenever they vanquish an enemy that enemies soul is then absorbed by the multi-being, giving them all their enemies strength, power, abilities, and knowledge." this was all a lot to take in.

"but when i was fighting the demon seiko... i didn't absorb anything. i turned into what i am now before i killed her and took her power." i said.

"i saw the fight..." he said. "i know what you did... you were always an omni-god. when you were fighting you combined both the elements of light and darkness... you're even doing it now... both light and darkness fused together to create an impossible energy... the creation of this energy would have taken far more energy than you had at the time."

"so then how did i do it." i asked.

"you didn't notice." he said questionably. i just shook my head.

"i was a struggling too much... i had my eyes closed." i said.

"you don't need you're eyes to see it..." he said. "your soul was instinctually pulling energy too you... i could sense it... energy from everything across the world... then, and only then did you become a fully realised omni-god."

"this... is a lot to take in." i said. i sat down on one of the logs and started rubbing my head because it was beginning to pound now. "why must it always be more complicated than it looks."

"because looks are deceiving." said the high seer "i asked you to see me because you're the first multi-being in over a million years... i consider myself extremely lucky for you to have not alone walked into oasis but realized the truth in my kingdom and then speak with me... i thank you for this." he said.

"is that all a multi-being is though... just an energy sponge." asked jericco. "i swear i've read other things about them."

"i should probably tell you the rest." said the high seer.

"theres more." i said in disbelief. "aside from unlimited power in every definition of the word. multi-beings are ageless and ultimately can become immortal." the word immortal caused my heart to stop for a few seconds and my brain to shatter inside my skull. "they can give up a soul in exchange for an escape from death... they can also exchange souls with death to bring back the life of somepony that was taken before their time."

"so i can cheat death basically." i said.

"not only that but you can sustain incredible damage to the point where an arrow to the head would have little effect, and the body of a multi-god can repair and regenerate wounds at unimaginable speeds... and they're also quite tall and muscular... as you've probably guessed." he said.

"is that it." i said kind of hoping it was over.

"uhm..." he said pondering for a second. "no..." he replied. i let out a big sigh and put my hoof to my forehead. "they have supernatural senses, almost endless energy, incredible strength, speed, and agility, their immune to all mortal sicknesses, diseases and poisons. and they have an endless array of hidden knowledge that is only accessed in times of need... most ponies referred to them as the perfect being... i wouldn't argue."

"great... just great... i'm perfect now." i said.

"not quite the outcome i expected..." said the high seer. "i thought you would be more ecstatic and happy."

"i can see why you would think that..." i said. "but i never asked for any of this... ever since i got my first dark powers i was happy about it... but after facing the challenges it threw at me and watching it hurt the ones i love i've always just wanted to be normal... but there's no way i can possibly be normal now."

"i'm afraid you'll never be normal... there's no way of completely concealing what you are now." he said. it wasn't helping much at all. "but that doesn't mean you can't live a normal life... you shouldn't let this stop you from living how you want..."

"that doesn't sound as easy as you make it out to be." i said.

"it might not be... but it's as easy as you make it." he said. "for example. over there" he said pointing past the transparent shield around us. he pointed right at a different camp. in the camp was a stallion on a kind of wheelchair. he had no legs and a cloth concealing his stumps. but instead of sulking and being miserable he was laughing and smiling as he held his baby up in the air with his wife right next to him.

"he seems so happy." i said.

"and in relevance his life is worse than yours." said the high seer. "but he is happy and living a normal life though he is clearly not normal... but you." he said walking up to me. "you sit here and sulk... you're life might not be normal but it's better now than it was before... nothing about you is bad... so don't make it bad... this is you're chance to fix you're problems and live you're life."

"you're right." i said smiling. i stood up and took in a deep breath that filled my whole body with a new found confidence and energy. "i've been acting like an asshole." i said. "but i'll be damned if i'm going to let my problems get me down... thank you high seer for your advice and information." we both smiled.

"i know you live a wonderful life full of many secrets and curiosities..." he said. he paused and looked down at my armour. "and it seems one of them is calling you." he said gesturing to my armour.

i looked down and saw the seams of one of my leather pouches was glowing a bright red. i opened it up and pulled out the philosophers stone. i held it up for jericco and the high seer to see. the high seer smiled.

"the philosophers stone... if you're going to be yourself i'd start acting like it." he said with a witty undertone as if hinting at something... i knew what he was suggesting. with little effort i started to absorb the power of the stone. the red light from it traveled up my hoof and started draining into my body. the red hue slowly drained out of the stone until it was black. i could feel the stones great power within me. the black stone turned to ash and was blown away. the veins in my body started bulging out and glowing red.

"i think it's time i've started working on my reputation." i said.

"you hold the power of the stone of ultimate creation now..." said the high seer. "i have no doubt you will make a fine omni-god... no go make a name for yourself crimson." said the high seer. his shield started glowing and in a flash it was gone as well as the high seer.

the ponies from the other camps noticed the flash and looked over to see me and jericco now standing there... they probably noticed me more. i guess the high seers shield had an invisibility spell on it to keep the conversation private. i looked across the street to the stallion in the wheelchair. he was holding his baby in his arms and staring at me in disbelief.

i walked over to the edge of the camp and across the street. some other ponies followed from a distance to see what would happen. i could tell that as i approached the pony in the wheelchair he wanted to turn and leave probably from intimidation and fear... but he must be more afraid of disrespecting me by turning his back and leaving. i finally got to him and stood inches away. the veins on my body still pulsing red with the stones energy.

"please my lord." said the ponies wife who was standing up next to him and holding him. "please have mercy." she begged. i feel a bit hurt that they would assume so ill of me. i plan on fixing that. i knelt down so i was at the crippled ponies height and i looked at him. he was trembling and holding his baby.

"how did you lose you're legs?" i asked. he stopped trembling in fear and he seemed confused. he remained silent out of fear. " it's alright... i won't hurt you and you're family... you can trust me." i said in a soft and caring voice. he seemed silent for a few more seconds but he spoke up finally.

"i... i lost them in the bandit raid in our previous village..." he said. i smiled at him. i held out one of my hoofs toward the area were his legs should be. streams of red energy started flowing from my hoof and wrapped around his lower half. next the energy gathered around the space near his stumps and started to take the shape of his back hooves. once the shape was complete there was a bright flash. when his vision came through he could see there was no longer energy there but his hooves had returned. his eyes widened in disbelief. there was a collective gasp from the crowd behind me. i felt uncomfortable showing off like this... mostly because of my religion, but i felt like i needed to do it.

"my... my legs." he said. a collective smile slowly spread across his face and the face of his wife. i smiled as well and stood up. "i've got my legs back..." he started laughing in joy and his wife did to. the first thing he did was stand up and hug his wife with one hoof and hold his child with the other. they both started celebrating. but they both stopped and turned to me... next they bowed down with smiles on their faces. "thank you... thank you so much... my family will be forever in you're debt."

"don't offer you're debt to me... just promise you'll be happy." i said.

"yes... yes lord i promise... we promise." he said. i smiled and turned around to face the growing crowd behind me. all the ponies in front were bowing but there were ponies who stood near the back of the crowd and stared in confusion. they probably didn't come along quick enough to see what happened.

using my magic teleported my bags and gear right onto my back and started heading into the street with my golden glowing wings shining brightly at my side. all the ponies started moving out of my way and cleared a path. then i finally got clear of the crowd i walked down the street seeing if there was anything i could help with.

the crowd behind me followed me in silence. as i crossed the path of other ponies they too joined the crowd. it seemed to grow larger with every step i took. i still felt bad about being worshiped as a god but it felt right. only thing is that i don't know what i should do now.

"help... thief." screamed a mare from close by. i looked over to see a pony running from a mare with a bag of money in his mouth. he ran across the street cutting across my path. i shot a thin vine of energy from the ground and wrapped it around one of the theifs legs. he tripped and fell to the ground. he hit hit face of the dirt road causing him to let go of the money. i used several other vines to tie him to the ground.

i gingerly walked over to the crook. he started struggling and shouting but when he saw me walk over all of that stopped. i didn't bother with him. i bent down and picked up the bag of money with my teeth. i slowly walked over to the mare and dropped the bag into my hoof. i held it out for her.

"here you go ma'am." i said. she stared in disbelief and grabbed the money from my hoof. i smiled and continued on my merry way. i walked away and loosened the grip on the thief. he was soon dealt with by a few of the ponies. i just kept walking and acted like it didn't happen.

that was basically the rest of my day... i walked around and helped in whatever ways i could. stopping thieves, curing the sick, saving cats from trees and helping out the poor and hungry... just little stuff... well, relatively. by the time it was five after twelve i already had half the camp following me and the other half was either looking for me or had heard of me already.

i had already circled around and was back at jericco's camp in no time. i walked into the camp and turned to the crowd of ponies which had grown somewhat thinner but still filled the streets.

"please all of you... return to you're homes and let me be for the evening." i said. one of the ponies in the crowd spoke out.

"but lord what other miracles do you have for us." one stallion said.

"none... i have nothing else for you ponies... please leave me at peace." i said. there was a bit of unrest in the crowd and the streets were filled with mumbling ponies. but soon enough they slowly started to thin out until the huge crowd was now gone. i smiled and walked over to the big family waggon. i flashed myself past the door and right into the waggon. mystee and her family were all eating dinner early with both the guard and black hoof still here.

"would you quit that." said ezekiel who just spilled water over himself.

"sorry..." i said. "i don't fit through the door."

"i thought you were leaving." said mystee with a very unhappy undertone. i could tell she might be mad at me for leaving. especially considering certain things. i walked to the table and took my seat in the same place as last time, between mystee and the guard. i looked at mystee but she refused to make eye contact. but she had a good way of hiding her anger.

"i am... but i can't go with a crowd on my tail... so i'll spend the rest of the day with all of you... then leave in the cover of night... even with the glowing forest everythings dark... which means i can slip out anyway i want." i said. " plus i need time to organize and recount my equipment."

"jericco told us about what happened today." said black hoof. "all about you meeting the high seer and about everything he said."

"then you went off and got a big head... what makes you think you can just play god like that." said mystee

" well to be honest i wasn't comfortable with it... i never claimed to be god, all i did was help." i said.

"healing the sick and feeding the poor and hungry... even saving cats from tree's." she said.

"in my defense it was a pretty tall tree." i said. that joke managed to get a few chuckles out of the table except from mystee who seemed to be angrier.

"you think it's a joke now." she said. "it's not funny... you can't just run around all day and do these things then walk it off like nothing happened." she said.

"do you have some kind of problem with me?" i asked becoming more serious now.

"yes i have a problem... i only really got to know you for a few weeks." she said. "and most of the time you weren't even here... and now when you finally come back after being gone you leave again... and this time forever..." she was clearly very upset and angry... but she was angry at nothing, hoping it would justify the tears falling from her eyes.

"mystee i'm sorry." i said.

"but you don't act like it..." she said raising her voice. "you can't just come into some ponies life and make them care then leave... you can't do that." she said basically crying now. she started making me feel like the problem... next thing i know i just lost my temper and got really angry for no reason.

"and how do you think i feel." i said standing up and shouting out in a booming voice that shook the waggon. my armour and body all started to glow a dark black and it sucked most of the light out of the room. "you're not the only one who's lost something... i used to have a wife and daughter... but they were taken from me." i shouted with a deep echoing voice. "now that i have a new life i have to leave it... i've been from my friends and family for months... and you think, that i can just walk away so easily... YOU THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME... i didn't walk into you're life... you pulled me in... and now we both have to suffer." i concluded by stomping my hoof on the ground and almost breaking through the floor.

mystee stared at me with tears in her eyes and the look of crushing defeat spread over her face. i just stared back at her with black soulless and angry eyes. she quickly got up and ran from the table crying. she ran out of the waggon and probably to her own. as she left and i started to realize what i've just done i started to calm down and massive waves of guilt and regret washed over me. the room returned to normal and i returned to my bright glowing self... well, on the outside.

the whole room was now silent and everypony was staring at me. their eyes seemed to pierce me like daggers and i hung my head in guilt and shame. it had been a long time since i let my anger erupt like that... and i let it blow up on the one pony who deserved it least... i could feel tears start to well up in my eyes but i fought them back. i let out a deep sigh that broke the silence and filled the room with dread.

"i'm such an idiot." i said. the room remained silent. their silence was worse than words. "i can't believe i just let my temper run me over like that... i can't believe i just yelled at her like that."

"i know that you've seen a greater deal of loss than most ponies." said jericco. "but mystee is different... she loves everypony she meets... after the raid and the incident at the school she's never quite been the same."

"i need to find her." i said getting up. i quickly teleported myself outside near the fire pit. i walked over to mystee's waggon. i listened closely but it was silent. i stuck my head in and looked around, but there was nopony inside... dammit.

i could feel my vision shift and change somehow and something caught my eye. over by the family waggon was a trail of glowing golden hoofprints. i figured this was my body telling me the way... like some kind of sixth sense. the went back past the caravan and into the woods behind the waggons. i walked over and followed the trail into the thick patch of trees and plants.

i followed them for what felt like a few minutes before i could hear the faint sound of crying. i looked forward from the ground and noticed there was a small large stream of water that cut through the woods. near the stream i saw mystee on top of a large platform like rock. she was sitting in a ball with her head buried in her arms. i walked over and could hear the crying grow louder as i got closer.

i was soon right next to the large platform like rock. there were smaller boulders by it that formed natural stairs. i walked up to them and climbed up to the large flat rock. i got up and noticed mystee close to the edge. the rock however was big enough to fit at least 30 ponies. the platform itself branched out and hung over the stream. it was quite a nice place.

i walked over to mystee with regret and sorrow in my eyes. i could tell that she already knew i was here but kept crying softly anyway. i walked up beside her and sat down. the first thing i wanted to do was apologize but she didn't give me a chance.

"GO AWAY." she yelled.

"mystee...I-" is all i got out before she interrupted me again.

"NO i don't care..." she said. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ALREADY... get on with you're damn quest and just GO." she said.

"mystee..." i said.

"I SAID GO." she yelled one last time. i could feel more tears welling in my eyes but this time i let them leak out. i silently cried next to her and let out a deep sigh. i remained calm on the outside but i was crying and hurt on the inside.

"alright mystee..." i said. "i'll go."

"good." she replied. before i left i reached into my bag and pulled out the cross i got from the light goddess.

"before i go..." i said. "i want you to have this." i said holding out the cross to her. she swiped her hoof and smacked the cross out of my hoof. it skidded and 8slid over to a further end of the giant rock and stopped. i let out a deep sigh and stood up. "alright mystee... i guess this is goodbye." i said. she remained silent.

its the same silence that cut me like a knife in the wagon and its a worse silence now that stabs at my heart. its the silence you get when you're so angry that you can't think of enough horrible things to say so you just stay silent. i turned and took a few steps to the end of the boulder before stopping.

"i'll never forget you and you're family... i hope you all have fun in oasis... goodbye." i said for the last time before stepping of the platform and back onto the ground. i slowly trudged through the woods with my head hanging low. every step i took was another battle trying to not break down and cry. all the while i had to hold back the urge to run right back and hug her and start crying... but i'm not going to do that... i need to be strong.

but the fact that whenever i look back on my memories of my time with her i'm always going to be haunted with the fact that the last time i ever saw her, i yelled at her and made her cry... knowing that my last memories of her will be of her hating me enough to never want to see me again. after pulling myself from my trance of sorrow i noticed i was walking back into the camp. everypony was out there now... probably waiting for me.

"so what happened." asked jafiri. i just looked at him with sad eyes. i ignored his question and used my magic to gather any of my other things and put them in my bag. i walked past the small group and headed for the road. i put my hood up to hide my face. my armour changed color to match my mood and turned a deep dark blue. magic shadows gathered around the inside of the hood and made my face impossible to see from the sides.

"where are you going." asked mirella. i stopped in my tracks and picked my head up. i turned my head enough to reveal only my snout to them.

"i'm leaving now..." i said.

"what... why." asked black hoof.

"mystee told me to leave so that's what i'll do..." i said. "out of respect i won't be passing through on my way back... i know of a different route." i could feel a wave of sorrow pass over them as i turned my head and looked back at the ground.

"so this is it..."said ezekiel.

"i never thought you would be leaving us like this." said jericco.

"i'm sorry." i said. "i was truly fortunate to have met you all... but this is it... chances that we'll ever see each other again are too slim to bother with... goodbye." i said. i let the sorrow seep in for a few seconds then i started walking. i walked for a few minutes and strangely none of the other ponies seemed to be bothering me.

right then... almost like the world was laughing at my misery and suffering... it started raining. it started off slow but picked up in only a minute... the world around me turned a gloomy grey and i just walked letting the rain cover me and drench me in water. it kept up like that for an hour. by then i was deeper into the camp and closer to the north passage to northern oasis but closer to the brink of breaking down.

there were no ponies outside and none of the shops were open. i was literally all by myself to wallow in my own sorrow and pity in the rain. it didn't matter though so i pressed forward and drudged on. the only thing i had to concentrate on was where to go which wasn't much since i somehow already knew the correct path.

so i walked for a few more hours in the cold rain that refused to show mercy and continued the pour down furiously over me. the only thing it did was add to my suffering. from what i knew i was close to the edge of the camp. it was just around this next turn if i was correct. i walked over and turned the corner to see i was right.

there was one last stretch of camp before it turned to a large path that cut into the forest. i looked down and checked the compass that was hanging from my utility belt. the compass pointed north and i was sure i was going the right way. i started walking again and my hooves started making a squishing noise as the dirt roads were beginning to turn to mud now.

i kept walking down the final stretch of the camp and halfway through the path raised up into a hill. i started walking up the hill and kept my head hanging low. by now there were no more wagons or stands because of the angle. i let out a deep sigh and reached the top of the hill. i picked my head up and looked forward into the dark forest. i turned a bit and looked over the camp. from this height i could see mostly the whole camp... even the lake that i must have passed hours ago.

"goodbye..." i said quietly. i turned my head and took one step forward.

"wait..." said a voice from behind. my whole being was filled a surge of excitement and joy. i turned back and looked behind me only to see that there was nopony there. i was soon filled with the agony of having my hopes crushed. it was just my head. i turned my head one last time and started walking.

every step i took was more painful than the last and my conscience was constantly gnawing at my heart. every part of me wanted to go back but i couldn't. i couldn't go back now... i had to keep going. i had to move forward no matter how hard it hurt. i can't turn back now and make things worse. i need to keep moving... moving forward.

back into the darkness...

-Authors Note: HA... bet you where expecting a happy ending... well to bad, no happiness here, just soul crushing misery and agonizing sorrow. but on a lighter note i felt like the sad ending to this chapter helps develop the story n' shit. allot of you guys really like mystee though so i can promise you this isn't the last time we see her or her family... or black hoof too of whom ive decided to make a major character in the story. but yeah on the road again... lets see what happens... and one more thing... you guys are pretty awesome. the story has reached over 20,000 viewers. i'm glad you guys love the shady.-End of Note-


	77. Chapter 77: The End Is Irrelevant

**THIS IS IT**

**THIS IS THE CHAPTER YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR**

**ITS DONE... I HAD TO SKIP SLEEP FOR THREE DAYS AND IVE POURED MORE MONSTER INTO MY BODY THAN OXYGEN, BUT SO HELP ME GOD ITS DONE**

For the next 2 days I walked through the forest and down the path endlessly and without break. All the while wallowing in sorrow and regret. Nothing interesting happened... Never met anypony...never got attacked by wild animals...just me. All alone in a dark and foreboding forest.

The entire time I had kept the hope that maybe somehow mystee would magically appear behind me but she never did. Like when I left the camp, I often heard voices from behind yelling at me. But every time I turned to see who it was I was only greeted with nothingness. I've learned to ignore the voices no matter how real they seemed to be.

I was surprised that I still wasn't out of the forest or at least close to the northern city by now. I haven't stopped for anything. Not to eat, sleep, rest, or even use the bathroom... I never felt the need to do any of those things. I never got hungry, or thirsty or tired... I just carried on in hopes that in the end I would see my friends and family again.

It was the third day and I was walking through the forest with my head up and I was looking forward, but I still had to carry the sulking weight of regret on my back. Before I knew what was happening my head started to fill with memories and pictures... All of them were of mystee and her family. In every single one she and the others were smiling.

" what have I told you." Said a familiar voice... It sounded like the high seer. It sounded like he was right next to me whispering in my ear, but he wasn't. " she doesn't hate you... She's confused... Don't let this wound become a scar... Let it heal with time, and then go... Go and see her when your quest is done... Don't carry this sorrow... You've already burdened yourself with so much... Don't add to the weight... Now GO." He said. I don't know why but he had a very good way of inspiring ponies.

He was right... Like the last time I ever spoke to him his words seemed to fill me with a bounty of inspiration and determination. I poked my head up from the ground and smiled for the first time if three days. With a surprising bounty of determination in me I stood up straight and stronger than ever. I slowly lifted up both of my wings. My armor that had been stained a dark blue was once more bleached white and glowing.

With my wings fully stretched out and my hopes returned to me I decided that this single flight... Was going to be the one that would carry me to the end of my journey. I beat my wings once and shot straight into the air causing a large gust of wind. Once I was we'll above all the smaller trees below and right under the large canopy above I beat my wings once more and I was off faster than I thought I could ever go.

In only a minute I had flown the distance it would have taken an hour to walk. I flew and flew as hard and as fast as I could. Any trees or perturbing branches that got in my way where easy to dodge and I glided tore through the forest with almost no effort. And soon enough I saw it... The gates to the northern city. There were huge stone wall on either side of a large metal gate. Beyond the wall there were large and ornate buildings that towered higher than the walls and higher than the trees.

I flew over and right above the gate. I watched as the guards stationed on the top of the wall watched in confusion and awe. Once I was past the gate I took a look at the city... And it was beautiful. It really lives up to the expectation of being the rich district of oasis.

There were huge buildings and towers massed at the center. There were walkways and bridges passing over the ground that connected the towers together. As the city grew closer to the gates the towers and large building diminished and smaller but still quite large and equally ornate buildings and homes took their place. This went on for miles with more towers and buildings off in the distance.

"Wow..." I said as this was one of the most impressive and incredible things I've ever seen. " makes me wish I had a camera..."...I'll have to make sure to pack one next time I go out.

"H-hey you..." Said a voice behind me. Curiously I looked behind me and saw that I was hovering only inches away from the top off the wall. There were several guards looking at me with worried faces. " what do you think you're doing."

" just passing through." I said. With that said I took off in a burst of wind and flew across the huge city. I passed over buildings and homes and before it was even five minutes I was gliding past the huge towers and skyscrapers. I was already a good mile from the wall and there was still more city to go around.

So I flew and I flew. Past huge towers and over smaller buildings. I had been flying for an hour and had covered at least 20 miles before I saw the northern exit. It wasn't far. I smiled and quickly made my way over to it. Within a minute I reached it and passed right over it. I got the same reaction from the guards over on the top of the tower as the last ones I scared.

I was soon greeted by the forest again and found myself whirling by trees and branches. Unlike last time though these trees seemed more wild and there where far more branches than before. As I flew I found it increasingly harder and harder to fly around up here and dodge branches... And soon enough as I went to bank and dodge a tree I clipped my wing on a branch.

I felt a sharp sting in my right wing and cried out in shock... Not pain. It didn't hurt as much as it normally would. The branch I hit which was at least half a foot thick was completely torn and destroyed. Hitting the branch caused me to loose my balance and start plummeting to the ground below. I started falling and soon enough I crashed into the trees and took every branch I hit with me.

Within a few seconds I finally made contact with the ground. I hit the ground with a large thud and bounced a few times before skidding and rolling a few feet after. I fortunately managed to crash right into the path so that was good. I laid there in the middle of the road dazed and confused lying in a pile of leaves, sticks, and large tree limbs.

I collected my thoughts and got up from the ground. I stood up and decided to asses the damage. Nothing was broken so that's good, but every part of my body that wasn't covered by armor was riddled with cuts and scrapes... Which basically just means my face and neck. I should probably be in incredible pain right now if not dead but I,m fine.

I watched in amazement as the cuts and scrapes on my body started to heal almost instantly. Any blood that had leaked out was sucked back into my body through the wound and they just seemed to vanish. The larger cuts took only seconds longer to heal. I looked at myself in surprise and saw that I was perfectly fine now. I smiled and decided that I should take the path from now on... So I did.

Still full of energy and excitement I started to run quickly down the path with a smile on my face. I started thinking about what I would do when I get to black marsh and what the temple there might be like. I imagined it would be all mossy and wet and probably buried in the ground almost. Kind of like ruins. I assume there will be traps and treasure and strange creatures. All of this thinking about the temple was causing me to get more excited and run faster.

I had already been running for two hours and covered well over five miles. I did start to notice that the large trees above started becoming more and more sparse as gaps and holes in the canopy above became more frequent and grew larger. And soon enough before I could tell there weren't anymore huge trees... There just weren't. All there was where normal regular trees.

Even with the huge trees gone I stuck to the ground for some reason. As I ran the dirt under me became more and more dry with cracks in it. The plant life seemed to diminish only leaving dying trees which after only a few minutes became dead and rotting trees. The air around me seemed to get thicker and I a light mist covered the path limiting my vision only to about several hundred feet in front of me.

I kept running and running with a smile on my face when I came across something what would have stricken fear into the hearts of most ponies. I stopped suddenly as I had come across a bridge built over a huge crevice. My smile quickly faded and a sudden wave of dread passed over me and lingered in the air. Halfway into the bridge sat a wall of the thickest fog I've ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to look not even my eyes could see past the unnaturally thick fog. It didn't drift or move it just sat there... Like there was a huge wall of glass keeping it from going any further.

I walked over to the start of the bridge. I looked over to the huge crevice which seemed to travel down several feet before fading into a seemingly endless dark void. The world was a dark grey and everything was still. There was no noise, no wind... Like a graveyard. I remember Jericco talking about this place and how it steals ponies memories and they come out with no memory.

I looked over and saw a small wooden sign with red words painted on... At least I'm pretending that its paint. The sign said 'hold onto your memories'. I looked at the sign for a second then I was filled with an idea... Like the sign was a clue. I reached my hoof into my bag and pulled out my Rembrandt. I held it in my hoof and hoped this would work.

I brought the rembrandt to my chest-plate and press it against the armor. Using my magic I shaped and blended the metal so now the jewel was affixed to my armor. It glowed brightly and a light red hue seemed to cover my body and glow faintly. The fog around me didn't seem to be able to pass through the red glowing barrier.

I took a few steps further and then a few more. I inched forward little by little until I was right in front of the Great Wall of fog. I closed my eyes and swallowed my fear and started walking forward. I started passing through the fog and kept my eyes closed trying to think of as many memories as I could.

I opened my eyes and looked around. There wasn't much to look at however. The fog was so thick that even with my eyes I could only see ten feet in either direction. Luckily I was able to make sense of the road and started walking.

I walked for a few minutes and I would often see the faint sight of trees on the sides of the road. They were all dead and the ground below was dried and cracked. The only way to differ the road from the rest of the ground is that all around me there was tall grass. All the way up to my neck.

As I walked through the creepy dark fog I continuously started growing more and more paranoid. I kept thinking of different memories just to be sure my idea was working, which it seemed to be. I could constantly feel something around me... Clawing at my head, desperately trying to get into my mind. Whispering my name and calling for me.

While the evil in this place couldn't get to my memories I could still tell it was affecting me somehow... I won't be able to stay here long. i could feel it... the fog was warping my mind... but it couldn't take my memories from me. i was sure that if i stayed here too long that i would go insane. with that in my mind i ran... i just started running and concentrated only on the path in front of me.

i kept running as fast as i could. after a few minutes i started getting a headache, and it grew worse with every step i took... but i didn't slow down. i'm not sure if it was just my head hallucinating or if it was the fog itself but i started seeing pictures and faces in the fog. eyes from every corner watching me with burning hatred.

i saw the faces of many ponies... all of them were different and unfamiliar. i watched as horrible scenes of death and murder played out before my eyes. i watched these scenes happen as i ran by... ponies getting stabbed and beaten in the streets. the feeling of hatred and the burning lust of revenge were thickening the air making it harder to breathe. my ears were pierced by screams of pain and pleas of mercy.

i ran and ran past all the horrific scenes but more kept popping up all around me. the screams were so loud i couldn't even hear myself think and i couldn't close my eyes for fear of running off the road and getting lost. i couldn't fly either because i would never be able to see the path from the air. i was practically forced to watch the death of hundreds of random ponies flash before me... and i don't understand why.

i kept running and running and my head felt like it was on fire and ready to burst. everywhere i looked more and more scenes and screams. it was like torture. every picture, every scream, every memory was like a stab at my head. whatever was on the outside desperately wanted to take hold of my mind. i just kept running and running and before i knew it... it was over... the fog was gone and i was in a forest.

with the sudden change i stopped and froze in shock and confusion. i hesitantly looked back hoping the horrors i had faced were gone... and to my relief they were. behind me now was a wall of fog that cut the forest road in half. the screaming, the memories, the pounding headache... all gone now... all was silent. i kept breathing heavily and started panting... this is the first time since the transformation that i was actually tired... with that realized i soon felt thirsty and i was starving too. no matter how hard i tried i couldn't shake the expression of shock and horror from my face.

before i did anything i closed my eyes. i started to remember about my family and friends. i remember twilight... and rainbow dash who's my wife... the princesses, rarity, applejack, pinkie and fluttershy, my daughters dawn and scootaloo. everypony. i then started to remember further back... my life on earth. my wife linda and daughter sarah. my friends in and outside of the army core... derek... he's here too. the expression of shock on my face soon went away and was replaced with a smile.

the silence of the forest was soon disturbed by the fierce growl of my stomach. i walked to the side of the road and sat down on a large rock in the ground. i took off my bags and placed them next to me. i reached into my bag and pulled out a few apples and a canteen of water. i quickly devoured the apples and drank the water. i threw away the scraps and realized i was still starving.

i grabbed some more food and started eating... and eating. i had never eaten so much in my life... i must have had the appetite of several grown dragons. before i knew it i had foolishly eaten all my food. realizing there was nothing else to eat i wasn't hungry anymore. i felt like a pig. all i had left now were several things of water. oh well. if i'm correct i just came out of... well... yeah. so i must be really close to blackmarsh according to the maps.

i grabbed all my shit and started walking again. i didn't feel like running anymore because i had tired myself out and i wanted to take in the silence for a bit. i looked up into the sky and saw that it was going to get dark soon... and i don't think this forest glows. i should be fine though, my powers over darkness have gifted me with night vision.

i kept walking for a bit and my strength returned to normal after an hour or so. by now the sun was close to setting and the sky was a dark orange and red with the black of night close behind. as i walked through the forest i could hear the bird's chirping and singing often and i could even start to see small animals like squirrels and rabbits hop along the path... strange that animals like that could be living so close to blackmarsh.

i walked along enjoying the last few hours of light i had before it got dark. i even started to hum the tunes to a few of my favorite songs. i usually hum when i travel on my journeys it helps deal with the boredom... and god is the boredom hell. its the absolute worst part of the trip. even a few days after i had just left ponyville i was bored out of my mind. i even picked up the bad habit of talking to myself again.

"so what's the plan for when you get to blackmarsh." i said.

"i'm not really sure." i said replying to myself. "i don't even know where i need to go."

"yeah but can't you do that thing were you single out the right path." i said again.

"that only happens at random though..." i replied to myself again. "but i have been hoping that would happen... or something... if not then it would take me days to find the temple."

i went on like that for a while talking to myself and telling myself things that i already knew. i was so bored that i didn't care. now if i had my Ipod from back on earth then i could be listening to music right now and this trip would be much more bearable. then again there would be no way for me to charge it. i'm sure i would think of someway to charge it with magic.

i kept walking and quickly and without warning the sky overhead faded away and the world around me was covered in darkness. i looked up at the sky in confusion but it was no use since everything was pitch black. i concentrated and i kicked into night vision mode. it wasn't all green and weird like night vision goggles but it was like everything around me was just visible now. it was easy to tell that it was night but it was like my eyes had brightness settings and i just cranked them up to max.

"i swear i had at least another hour of light." i said. "it couldn't possibly have been that long could it?"

"probably was... c'mon just keep going." i replied to myself. i looked back from the sky which was dark and cloudy. i kept walking forward and thankfully i finally stopped talking to myself and went back to the humming. i looked around me and looked at the forest. it was more exotic than the last time i saw it. i took one more step and i could hear the squish of mud under my hoof. i lifted up my hoof and looked down at my own hoofprint. the ground was getting moister now.

i knew that i must be getting close to the swamp now. i dumped my sort of giddy and playful mood and replaced it with a more serious one. i was now thinking about what i would do... i mean, this is it... the final stretch, i'm so close, it's been so long and now i've made it. well not exactly, there's still the matter of finding the temple and acquiring the two stones. and i've been dealing with this shit long enough to know that it's not going to be as easy as i should make it out to be... and it usually isn't.

knowing that every time i plan something out the problem usually ends up being worse than i thought. so for the first time i'm going to overestimate the challenge. i can assume there will be tons of deadly and dangerous traps that could kill me. there will probably be hundreds of enemies that are all strong enough to put up a fight and i'm most likely going to die... perfect!

i kept that in my mind and repeated it and visualized it until i actually started to believe that it would really happen. i kept thinking and thinking about it as much as i could so i would be more than ready for the worst situation. and i figured that anything less than that would be easy enough for me. i just need to keep this mentality in the temple. however a small part of me was hoping too that it wouldn't be that hard... but the rest of me was dying to try out my new abilities in some real combat. i grinned a bit at the thought and kept walking.

i walked only a few more feet then a sudden chill rushed over my body and caused me to shiver. it was like the temperature just dropped 30 degrees. i was starting to feel cold. strangely however the rush of cold faded and it was warm again... warmer than i remember. i had been distracted by my thoughts and i kept my head down while i was thinking i hadn't seen how much the forest had changed. in fact it wasn't a forest anymore... it was a swamp.

there were huge leafless trees everywhere. there were vines and moss and small exotic plants everywhere. some of the trees broke out into thick roots before the tree even touched the ground. there were roots curving out of the ground everywhere. the ground was muddy and there were puddles and large shallows of water with cattails and lily pads. there was actually one right next to me close by the road. i walked over to it and looked in.

i could see the bottom of the water. it was only about half a foot deep and seemed to stay like that for the entire pond. i couldn't however see my reflection in the disgusting green and swampy water. there were mushrooms and fungi everywhere. the only way to distinguish the path was because it was a clear cut part of the ground that wasn't riddled with plants and trees and mushrooms.

i turned away from the pond and started walking down the path looking around at the swamp. the more i looked around the more this place started to remind me of the everfree forest, which comes pretty close to passing off as a swamp... but it makes a better dark and foreboding forest rather than a swamp. but one thing was for sure... this place was much worse than the everfree forest.

the ere fog that settled near the ground gave it a scary and mysterious atmosphere. the fog also kinda scared me a little based off of a very recent experience that i'm trying my best to forget. the sound of crickets chirping and frogs croaking filled the air. i could hear bugs and mosquitoes flying around and buzzing by my ears but they didn't seem to bother me. there wasn't any weather or wind... everything was perfectly still. almost like the wind and weather itself was afraid to come here.

when i started thinking about it and started remembering the maps i looked at this place isn't actually that big. well it's pretty big relatively but its not as big as i had made it out to be. it's just slightly bigger than the east section of oasis... so nevermind i guess it is pretty big. the worst part is that i doubt this mud path is going to lead me right to the temple.

i started looking at the ground and i wondered... who the hell built this path and how did it survive. come to think of it who the hell built the path back in that place with the fog... there must be some guy out there with balls the size of watermelons walking through these places and clearing paths. and faster than i'd like to admit my mind started to wander like it often does when i'm bored. how can i be bored in a place like this.

i was starting to scare myself. even now i'm noticing that i'm not acting like i normally do. its like i don't make a big deal out of things. even now while i'm completely aware of the fact, i can't seem to help it. this place just doesn't seem to pose a threat to me. the scary and foreboding environment doesn't even seem to be phasing me... if anything i'm excited. i let out a big sigh.

"i'm such a freak." i said.

"your a mess too." i said to myself. "a big freaking mess."

"yeah that sounds about right." i said. i ended the conversation there and once again my mind started to wander against my own will. i started fantasizing about what would happen when i found this place and what it would be like. i started playing out the adventure in my head up to the point where i got the two crystals then i stopped and a new thought just popped up in my head. probably the only serious thought i've had in an hour or two.

what was i going to do when i was done. when i think about it i could probably just teleport right to ponyville. i did some thinking a few days ago while i was leaving the gypsy camp and i figured out i can travel to anywhere in the world as long as i knew where it was or it was in my sight. that answers that question... sort of. when i think about it returning to ponyville is going to be the most awkward situation of my life due to recent circumstances.

i can't just teleport right into the middle of ponyville and ba all like, "hey... sup everypony... i'm back.". that's not exactly the most delicate way to handle the situation. and most certainly not the best situation that's going to cause the least amount of panic and fear. i guess i could teleport just outside the town and walk in through the front door.

i'm sure that allot of ponies wouldn't be able to tell it was me but i don't know most of the ponies well enough to care if they recognize me or not. i would of course explain everything to dash and twilight and the others. then after the hellos i would have to find a way to princess luna... i know that celestia won't help... but i've been in her castle so i can just teleport right there, maybe... not sure how well that would go over with the guards.

before i could continue my thinking something caught my hoof while i was being distracted and i tripped and fell. i landed right on the ground and into the mud and filth. i quickly recovered from my daze and confusion and slowly got up from the muddy ground.

"are you fucking kidding me." i said getting up. i was getting pretty angry but that went away as i watched all the mud and grime covering me just wash right off and drip back to the ground. it was like water off a ducks back. soon enough i was spotless and shining bright again. "oh..." i said. "alrighty then."

i looked back behind me to see what had just tripped me. before i did though i started thinking. i was wondering if it would be some kind of clue to the temple. it would only make sense since my life is filled with tons of cliches like that.

getting surprisingly excited i looked back to see what it was. only to my displeasure it was just a dumb rock. it was covered with moss on one side and the other was just boring and grey. it did seem fitting for the universe to torment me with its irony and indifference. i let out a sigh and decided to keep walking forward. i didn't let it get to me that much since i was still close anyway.

immediately and without warning the path in front of me started to glow a faint golden and lit up. i immediately figured this to be my body telling me that i'm not smart enough to figure out where to go so it's going to show me... or at least that's how i see it.

"ah see..." i said. "i knew i could rely on... uh... this." i said not being able to come up for a logical name for the mysterious force giving me the answers. i gleefully started trotting along in the mud at a jogging pace and followed the trail. as i followed the trail i noticed that this time i was able to see the environment around me and not just the trail which i actually prefered.

i kept following the glowing trail and it lead me further and further down the path. soon enough it broke off from the patch and lead right into the thick of the swamp as i knew it eventually would. i walked to the edge of the ath and looked at the disgusting swamp in front of me. i wretched a little before taking one step forward. i took another step then another and soon enough i was slowly and carefully trudging through the swamp.

i was being careful not to step on anything... unpleasant, because there was thick tall grass the kept the ground hidden. it only grew in a small patch then thinned out and i could see all the mud, roots, plants, and bugs on the ground. i swear everything i stepped on was wet and squishy... even some of the roots.

"soon..." said a strange voice. i soon made it out to be the strange voice from all those times before. the one thing that bothers me is that i was given no explanation for this voice and i can't explain it myself. i was kind of hoping the high seer would have told me... but he never mentioned it. but i don't have time to worry... it's been correct about everything up till now and completely helpful so i'll trust it. i just wish i knew that it meant by 'Soon...'.

i kept walking along and trudging through the thick and ugly swamp. i kept my head down and stared at the ground to that i don't fall and eat shit. it was pretty hard even then. aside from being wet and disgusting everything covered in moss was as slippery as ice. i often slipped and had to catch myself. i followed the bright trail into the thick swamp for at least an hour. the only break i got was when it would drag me through a shallow pool of water which was easy to walk through despite the thickness and coloration of the water.

i kept walking for a few more minutes and suddenly the trail just stopped. i was standing on a small circle of light. soon enough however the light became dimmer and dimmer before soon enough it faded and was gone now. i stared at the ground for a few more seconds with a curious look on my face. then i picked my head up and looked forward... i should stop looking at the ground when i walk.

in front of me was the ruins of a town. and beyond that over the buildings and some more swamp was a temple. it was broken, old and covered in moss just like the houses of the town. the temple was just how i pictured it. it reminded me of the temples you would see in old indiana jones movies. though i never expected the town.

i started walking forward and entered the town. the remains of the houses resembled the style of houses in ponyville but instead of straw and hay roofs the roofs here had shingles. the houses were covered in moss and the wood was horribly rotted. everything was dead. there were large holes and chunks missing from most of the houses. there wasn't a single one that looked to be in good condition.

i could see into the houses through these holes and see rubble comprised up of mostly furniture. it was furniture from the upper levels that was far too heavy to be supported by the rotting wood. it was like that for all the houses and some of them had collapsed completely. i had expected to see the skeletons and remains of other ponies but i couldn't see anything. there was no sign of life, OR death anywhere. it was like everypony decided to pack up and leave this place to rot.

i kept walking around taking a few turns and twists here and there taking in the view. it wasn't long before i came to the exit of the town. it wasn't that big... probably less than half the size of ponyville. i looked over and saw that there was a large curved, stone staircase leading up to the temple. it curved around a large deep pond. on the outside was more swamp that curled over the stairs as much as it could but the stairs went high above the dead trees and swamp.

i smiled and started walking my way up the stone steps. it wasn't long before i was at the tree line and still not even halfway there. i looked back to check my progression and saw i was at least only 10 feet from the ground. the stairs weren't very steep. i took another step forward and the stairs under me started to give in and a chunk of stone cracked and broke off right under the hoof i just placed down. i quickly shifted to the side in shock and surprise while the chunk of stone fell a few feet and splashed on the pond down below.

i kept walking up the stone stairs but more cautiously now. i stayed towards the middle and didn't have any other problems from there. it was only a few minutes before i reached a large stone platform in front of the large pyramid like temple. i looked back and stared over the swamp. it wasn't ridiculously high like a tower but it was big enough that i could see for at least a mile. if i hadn't kept my head down while walking i probably would have noticed this this half an hour before i got here.

i turned back around and saw there were two large doors a further down in the center of the stone platform. there was a large strip of the wall in front of me that wrapped around from end to end. it was filled with patterns and pictures of random things. i couldn't make any sense of it. i walked over to the large doors which were easily three times higher than me and a good 20 feet wide.

the doors as well were covered in pictures and symbols which was quite impressive. what was more impressive was the fact that it was made of iron. i could tell because it was rotted and rusted. the metal work it would have taken to create this must have been incredible. especially considering this must have been made years before metal was used as a building resource. as impressed as i was i needed to get in so the doors have to go.

i walked up and put my front hooves on both parts of the double door and started pushing. i managed to get it to budge a few inches before my hooves started sliding back. the screeching sound of metal filled the air and cut through the silence like a knife. i stopped pushing when the door refused to move another inch. i turned and bucked the door as hard as i could. i could hear it grind against the stone floor as it did budge a few more inches. i bucket it again and it moved some more.

i kept bucking at it but it moved less and less every time before it eventually refused to move anymore again. i stopped to catch my breath for a second. i looked at the door and i knew that this thing was rusted to hell. there was no way it was going to open even with my strength. i soon got a brilliant idea.

i reached my hoof over and grabbed the hilt of my sword. i took it out of its sheath and held it in my right hoof. even when there wasn't any sun the swords blade still shone like it was reflecting the light of the sun. i put the tip of the sword up high above my head and pressed it against the door. i underestimated the swords sharpness greatly as it accidentally cut clean through the solid iron door like it was made of cheese. i smiled and decided to hurry this up. i sliced at the door a couple times and carved out a solid square of door.

i sheathed the sword and smiled. i turned my back to the door and bucked the square of iron as hard as i could. i felt it get pushed back a little and watched it fall. it hit the ground and made the most loud, obnoxious, and rupturing sound ever. it cut through the air and seemed to cover the swamp. i could hear the sound echoing through the endless darkness in the temple.

i peered in and the darkness in there was strange. not even my vision could make out what was in there. the sound of the door chunk hitting the ground continued to echo inside the temple a grew only slightly fainter every time. this was it. this was the climax of the quest. there was definitely no turning back now. i swallowed my nerves and too my walked into the darkness. i stood there with the glow of the swamp at my back.

almost immediately two large sources of light lit up right next to me. then two more after them, then more and more. they were torches... BIG torches. there was one for every column down a massive corridor. finally the last torches lit up revealing the end of the room. i looked around in awe. there were columns all the way down the large hall. inside the hall there were decorations. rugs and huge decorative carpets strided down the hall from end to end.

there were banners hanging from the ceiling and they all had the same insignia on them. it a diamond inside a square, inside a circle. there were two types of banners though. one had a black background with a white diamond and the other was the opposite with a white background and black diamond. they alternated every row. i figure that must be about the gems i'm here for.

i looked at the sides on the hall and there were columns going all the way down. the columns were smooth and ornate. they had huge torches on them that were easily bigger than me. it was the same for both sides until the end of the hall. between the columns were statues. behind that was just a wall with pictures and patterns carved into it.

i started walking around and i looked at the statues. they were all different. mostly humanoid but they weren't human. one was a sort of wolf, bear thing. another one was part cat. they all had fancifull weapons and armour on. i kept looking around until i found one statue that struck me as the most interesting.

it was a statue of a human. there were no cross animal characteristics except for the large feathered wings he had partially showing by his side. he was wearing smooth plate armour that covered all of his body. he had a sword with a decorative looking hilt. the tip of the sword rested on the ground while he rested both hands on the hilt.

i noticed that behind all of the statues there was a banner with a symbol on it. each symbol was different and seemed to accurately represent the statue as far as i could tell. the string and wooden post for this banner were hanging up but the banner itself seemed to be torn down. some shreds of it were still stuck to the wood but it was of absolutely no help.

i walked back around and kept looking at some more of the statues. from what i could tell the ponies, or whoever built this temple must have worshiped these beings as gods of some sort. i looked at some of the other statues and i noticed that at the stone base of the statue there were names carved into the stone. the writing was strange and creative but i soon made it out to be english... i could read this.

"asakuba..." read the carving. it was difficult to make out but it was clearly in english. i started moving onto previous statues and reading their names. "maska... izerollies... norviir... augumus...". i went on and read the names of the statues probably horribly butchering the pronunciation on most of them. the last statue i came to was the statue of the angle like being. i looked down at the base of the statue and looked at the name. it took a second to figure out but i finally got it.

"Martukus..." read the carving in the statue. i decided that i had spent enough time in this room and i need to carry on. besides i've had a few problems before with some rather nasty statues... and i don't feel like pressing my luck this time... besides i counted there to be 28 statues in total.

i turned and quickly made my way to the large door at the end of the hall. i trotted over and soon walked up to the door. i looked up at the huge door and noticed it was exactly like the front door... just a bit smaller though. but it had carvings in it and it was made of solid iron. i looked at the iron and noticed that it was still in beautiful condition. come to think of it everything in here seems to be beautifully preserved.

i put both of my hooves on the two iron double doors and started pushing. despite the weight of the iron the doors seemed to open up wonderfully. they didn't creak or resist and the iron didn't scrape against the stone floor. it made a satisfying clunk as i initially parted the doors. with my arms refusing to go any further i gave both doors a push and they swung out a few feet before stopping.

the room behind these doors was well lit by torches on the walls. it was a small room filled with all kinds of assorted things. there were banners and rugs and vases being held up by small columns. there was too much for me to describe. all the while everything was beautifully decorated and ornate. it was pretty amazing stuff. i hadn't noticed that i already stepped into the room.

i looked to my side and noticed that there were large staircases that went down on either side of me. they were both exactly the same. they went down and took a turn going behind me. i figured based on the shape of the temple that they both lead to the same place, so it won't matter thich on i choose. so i decided to go right.

i turned and started trotting down the right hand staircase. i reached the bottom and turned to see the hallway. it was a long but large hallway. to my left were carvings and pictures shaped into the stone wall. on the other side there were wooden doors evenly spaced all the way down.

i walked down the hallway ignoring the doors. i'm well aware that what i'm here for is most likely not being kept in a bedroom under somebodys pillow. i have a feeling that i'll definitely know what i'm looking for when i see it. so i kept walking and just looked around at some of the decorations outside in this hall. before i knew it i was at the end and i took another right turn. i looked down the new hall and saw that there was another right turn at the end proving my theory that the paths both went to the same place.

i started walking and i noticed there was a great big square missing from the right side. i smiled and walked over. soon from my angle of view a set of stairs poked out of the corner of the hole. when i finally got to the entrance to the staircase i realised that they were more than just stairs.

i stared down at the stairs which seemed to descend forever into a bottomless pit of darkness and mystery. now i thought that stairs went up to heaven and the path to hell was a highway... guess not. i decided to suck up the strange fear that had washed over me and took the first step.

suddenly more torches sprung to life and lit up the staircase. they were much smaller than the other ones and didn't glow as bright. they glowed a strange dark red. they were bright to look at but strangely didn't give off much light. i watched as the torches lighting up the staircase lit up further and further down on the stairwell. they just kept going and going until it was impossible to tell if they went on any longer.

the once endless, threatening pit of darkness has now been replaced by stairs. the scary part is that the stairs seem equally endless and threatening as the pit of darkness... at least with the darkness i would be in my element... fucking stairs.

i sucked it up and started walking down the stairs. i was being extremely cautious for two reasons. one is that i don't trust these stairs and i was making sure there weren't traps since i have yet to find some. and reason two is because i was horribly afraid that i would trip... it i tripped and fell down these stairs then that would be the end... even though i'm sure it would never kill me i would never want to get up after something like that.

so i very cautiously continued my way down the stairs. the red torches glowing next to me didn't help much with the lighting but at least things were visible. i had the idea to just use my wings to float down there but the stairwell was too thin and my wings couldn't stretch out well enough. i looked behind me and saw that the hall i came from was now just a small box of light. i looked down and saw that the stairs kept going. i let out the biggest sigh of my life.

after about another ten minutes of walking down stairs in constant paranoid fear the bottom of the stairs finally became visible. seeing the bottom i started to pick the pace up a little and trot down the stairs. i was still being careful not to fall because it is still quite a ways down.

as i got lower and lower the air around me started to get hotter and more damp, it also started to thicken too. like i was running out of air and just breathing back in my own breath. the red torches on both sides of me gave off little light but emitted a lot of heat. i was getting thirsty so i pulled a sack of water from my bag and drank the whole thing. i put the empty water bag back into my saddlebag and kept going feeling much better.

the bottom of the stairs was growing closer and closer and soon was only a few yards away. at least one hundred more steps. i kept walking and stepping carefully on the steps one by one. it took only a few more minutes before i was mere steps from the bottom. i was actually pretty happy. i was just about to take the first step on actual ground now.

i stepped down from the last step and my hoof hit the ground. i went and got fully off the steps. it felt good being on solid flat ground. i smiled and took a step forward. i my hoof hit the ground and i went to take the next step but i could feel the ground sinking from under me. i checked to see what had happened and i saw that the square of flooring i stepped on had sunk an inch or two into the ground. immediately my eyes narrowed and my heart stopped.

"ooohhhh... fuck" i said softly. before i knew what to do the red torches all went out simultaneously and the room was now filled with an unnatural darkness. quickly after i could hear the sound of machines. the sound of turning gears and cogs filled the air followed by the sound of stone slabs crashing together. it started close, almost right behind me then it grew further and louder. after about a minute everything stopped and the place was still.

i sat there i confusion and fear. the darkness around me was so thick i couldn't even see the light emitting from my own body. there was no hope of me seeing what happened. i just stood there because i was afraid what would happen if i moved. i was safe where i was and i didn't know what else i could do.

suddenly and thankfully the torches in ignited and all lit back up at once. however this time the torches were glowing a bright blue flame and gave off much light but turned the room blue. i looked forward at the hall in front of me. i couldn't see anything different... nothing changed it was just an empty hall with large double doors at the end.

i looked back and my heart skipped a beat. the stairs that once used to be there were no longer stairs but had collapsed into a ramp. it was far too steep to even bother walking up and the surface was smoother than marble... i just probably trapped myself... great. i turned back and looked over to the hallway. i went to go forward but i stopped myself halfway... i looked and saw that the flooring was a pattern of squares from here to the door... i could trust none of them.

so i slowly and ever so carefully started taking steps forward checking each and every square before i stepped on it. it had already been a solid five minutes and i had progressed forward and total of six squares... it's not so easy when you've got four legs to worry about.

i did however manage to pick up the pace by walking awkwardly in a way that my back hooves only pressed down on squared my front hooves have touched. it did manage to speed up the process a little bit but made me look like a retard at the same time... if there was a fast and easy way to develop paranoia, this was it. while the hallway seemed harmless enough and there was no sure sign of there being traps i still proceed with caution.

and so i did... i proceeded cautiously all the way to the door at the end. what would have normally taken me only a minute instead consumed a good part of the last hour. but it paid off and i finally got to the door. like before the doors were iron and decorated. i put my hooves on them and pushed them open with ease. they swung open and revealed the other room. what was on the other side of those doors could only be described as the most ridiculous, unbelievable, and unpredictable obscene thing i've ever seen.

on the other side of the door was a huge cavern that could fit the city of canterlot. it was nothing but a jagged and hilly terrain of rocks and strange, blue crystals that glowed brightly and lit up the room. there was an overhang at the door before it dropped into a wasteland of rocks and crystals. i took a few steps into the cavern with my jaw dragging on the ground.

past the wasteland of rocks and crystals was a huge staircase. it lead up to a large platform towering over a sea of lava. it went up high enough to come close to the top of the cave. at the top of the staircase was a large red, swirling portal. it seemed to emit an energy that i could see and feel from here.

there were crystals at the top of the cave that seemed to fire lightning at the portal giving it some kind of fuel. the cavern was filled with the cracking of the lightning and made it seem that there was a storm. i walked forward even more and finally picked my jaw up from the ground. i looked around but there wasn't much else to look at. walked forward even more until i was right at the tip of the cliff leading to the wasteland. finally i can use my wings and fly.

i spread my wings and lifted into the air. i slowly started making my way over the wasteland. as i grew further into the wasteland i found myself slowly sinking towards the ground. i flapped harder but the closer i got the harder it was to stay up and soon i wasn't able to fly much at all.

i stumbled down and drastically started heading to the ground now. i was barely able to flap my wings at all but i was able to glide down and land on the stone floor with some grace. but the ground quickly pulled me down. it felt like i had just put on another 100 pounds, but at the same time it felt like i was being magnetically attracted to the ground. i grit y teeth and started pumping more strength into my body. i was soon able to easily stand up.

i tried flexing out my wings again but they wouldn't go much higher than my back so i guess i was walking the rest of the way. i let out a deep sigh and started walking forward. with every few steps i took growing closer to the huge staircase and the portal it seemed to get harder and harder to walk.

after at least five minutes of walking forward i had gained some good ground but i felt like i was 500 pounds. with it being this difficult for me to walk i started using more energy and pumped more strength into my body. the symbols on my body glowed brighter and so did my eyes. my armor and wings started glowing brighter too and a small circle area of earth cracked and shone light under my feet.

but still with every few feet i could feel the pressure on me growing greater and greater and the air started growing thinner. i could tell but i found no trouble in breathing. if i had to guess what was happening i would guess that it has something to do with this portal or the crystals. the closer i get to the portal the stronger the gravity around me gets. and i was still pretty far from the stairs.

i kept walking and walking not yet facing any trouble in moving or breathing. as i walked the earth started to shake. i stopped and looked around. out of the corner of my eye i saw a large crack in the ground. i looked over to see what was going on. the ground shattered a little more in that one particular area and to my surprise a huge rock fist broke through the ground.

the fist clenched the earth and pulled the rest of its body up. before i knew it i was staring at a large rock monster that had just emerged from the ground. his body was a floating mass of rocks and crystals. he had burning red crystal eyes. none of the rocks he was made of actually were connected, they just floated in the air. i saw that the crystals on his body were firing small bolts of energy from one to another. he pounded his fists together and roared as if he was trying to ward me off.

i started backing up but he started to run over... or float over. he didn't really have legs just a part where the mass of rocks thins out into a cone like shape and he just floats. he quickly started floating over and probably planned to charge me. i rolled out of the way and he zoomed right past and smashed into a rock spike that was sticking out of the ground. despite the gravity i was able to pull off that role. he turned around and roared again. the next thing that happened can best be described as... shocking.

instead of charging at me again he held up his hand and pointed it at me. next thing i knew a bolt of blue lightning fired from his palm and struck me right in the chest. i yelled out in pain and went back a few feet. i fell to the ground and grit my teeth. i found it greatly difficult to get up from a combination of shock-paralysis and the increased gravity. before i knew it he was right in front of me and had his rock hands around my neck.

he picked me up and threw me with impressive strength. i flew and hit a crystal that was growing out of the ground with my back. i could hear the crystal break which in turn shocked me again but worse than before. i yelled out in pain one more time and fell to the ground. i grit my teeth in pain and looked up to see the rock beast charging at me again.

out of anger and annoyance i let out a roar and fired a large beam of white energy from in front of me. it tore past everything and made the cavern shake. it fired off and cut through everything in its path. i stopped roaring and the beam faded and was gone. the beam cut a clear path of destruction and ended everything in its way. even the rock beast who no longer existed.

i settled down and climbed back onto my hooves. i took a few deep breaths and rested for a second. my body was in a bit of pain from the experience but the pain quickly faded and i could feel my energy and strength returning remarkably fast. before i knew it i was walking towards the stair tower again. so i guess i know what to do now whenever i find one of those things again.

i continued to walk onward and started making good distance. though with every step it did become ever more challenging to walk. i started pumping more energy through my body and that greatly helped lift the weight. the energy i was using was just a fraction of my power and i was already leaking energy.

i kept walking towards the stairs and with every few feet i was expecting one of those this to pop out of the ground and attack me. i don't like this... it's too easy, i've already started to get bored. i have a feeling if i had traveled here on schedule i never would have become what i am right now, and this place would most certainly be the death of me.

i kept going on and on and the stairs grew closer and closer. by now they were so close and i started to get a feel for how big they were. i walked forward and soon enough i was at the base of the stairs. i was finding it a bit hard to walk now so i shot more energy into my body and i quickly lightened up.

i took one step and started walking on the stairs. as i climbed up the stairs i could feel the air growing even thinner and the change in gravity was even more drastic with every step. i had to continuously release small amounts of energy into my body just to keep up.

i kept going... climbing, moving forward. the whole time it became more and more difficult, but i was making good progress. the air had become so thin now that i was taking deeper breaths and starting to sweat. i could already feel symptoms of altitude sickness start to settle in despite the fact that i'm not even a mile off the ground. i looked over the side to see that i was however pretty high off the ground.

after another few minutes of climbing i was well past the halfway point but i was climbing up the stair as if i was scaling a mountain side. not because they were steep but because i felt so heavy. i kept climbing and climbing and with every inch i added more and more energy.

i let out a deep growl of annoyance and let a large burst of energy into my body. i started glowing brighter than ever. my body started releasing energy by smoking and firing bolts of lightning off from my body. my armour grew thicker and more spikey. it also became more decorative and ornate. my body was finding any way of releasing energy that it could.

with this new energy i was able to get up and start running up the stairs. i was completely unphased by the changing gravity even though i could sense it was changing. and finally... i made it to the top. i ran right up and stopped on the platform right in front of the large square portal resting up here with ornate gold decorations. it swirled endlessly and made evil noises that i can't quite explain. i looked over the side of the platform and saw we were quite far into the sea of lava. don't want to be falling down there.

i looked at the portal with anticipation, curiosity, and a tinge of fear and doubt. i can't believe i'm really about to just jump through this portal. it's not like i have much of a choice. the way back is blocked off and i have an obligation to fulfill. i swallowed my emotions and started walking forward. as i grew closer the evil sounds emitting from the portal grew louder and burned deep into my mind. i was unable to make sense of them however. i soon was standing right in front of it only a few inches away.

i picked my hoof up and started pushing it forward. i inched it closer and closer and soon it skimmed the surface of the portal. it touched the surface and the portal rippled like water. i stuck my hoof in more until it was up to my elbow. before i could lighten up i could feel an energy swallow my hoof and the portal started sucking me in.

i tried to fight it back and pull away but it was too strong and there was nothing to hold onto. before i knew it my entire arm was through as well and most of my back hoof and some of my torso. it quickly yanked me and almost sucked me right in there. i grabbed the edge of the portal frame and stopped myself. i started to pull myself out of the portal with the one hoof but from the extreme conditions i was all sweaty and my hoof slipped and i was sucked right in.

the portal sucked me into a swirling red vortex. i hurled through it flipping and twisting through the air like i was falling. my head started buzzing and my ears were filled with a loud, off key humming. as i fell through the vortex i noticed a small white light at the end that i only caught glances of as i twisted through the air uncontrollably. every time i looked at the light it seemed to grow closer and brighter.

and i was right. i was falling towards the light and hopefully the other side of the portal and out of this vortex. i kept falling and tried to straighten myself out but it was practically impossible. even using my wings and flapping to balance myself out did nothing. but before i could notice it the bright light at the end of the tunnel was now right on top of me. i could feel myself being consumed by the light and suddenly everything was still and i was standing upright surrounded by light.

the light however didn't last too long as it faded and darkness took its place. i could feel flooring under my feet now and i knew i had returned to reality. i looked around and everything was dark but i quickly realized that i was closing my eyes. i opened them and looked around... and everything was still dark. it wasn't exactly darkness but it was nothingness. i was standing on some kind of invisible surface surrounded by a sea of nothingness. there was a bright light ahead of me.

i looked up and smiled for i had finally found what i came for. floating in front of me, only mere inches away, there two large gems, one was black and the other white. both of them took the shape of an elongated hexagon. they both floated next to each other upright and perfectly aligned. the glowing light from the white crystal seemed to give off its own heavenly tune. the dark crystal seemed to glow with its own black light and hummed the opposite key. together both of them sounded beautiful together.

"congratulations hero..." said a familiar female voice... hero?

"yes of course what a great guy..." said another familiar male voice. before i could even think two figures seemed to emerge from the nothingness. the goddess of light who visited me in my dreams appeared and stood behind the white crystal. the other figure was a very familiar robed man. the god of darkness stood behind the black crystal.

"you've traveled far and now you get to claim you're prize." said the goddess of light.

"yep... have away kid." said the god of darkness. i looked over at him and he smiled and winked.

"i know about you're meeting with my brother mordecai..." said the goddess of darkness.

"i had a feeling you knew merithaal." said mordecai. so mordecai and merithaal... brother and sister. gods of light and darkness.

"wait... that's it... i just get to have them now." i said confused as hell.

"well duh kid." said mordecai "they're right there... just take them and go."

"but, but, but... ghaaa." i stammered

"damnit merithaal... i think we broke him."

"that doesn't make sense... there was no challenge, no protection, there was nothing stopping me from getting here... any idiot could have walked in and taken them." i said.

"but instead we got you." said mordecai quietly.

"but there was a challenge..." said merithaal. "there were plenty of obstacles on you're journey... reaching the temple didn't change anything. the challenges were getting to the temple... not what laid inside." she said.

"that... but." i said stammering again in confusion.

"look kid... think about all the shit that you got done since you left on the journey." said mordecai. "do you think any regular shmoe could have done a fraction of the shit you were put through."

"put through?..." i said. "you say that like it was all planned."

"well no shit... there you go you figured out the mystery... it's about fucking time." he said. "it was so obvious..." he said laughing at me. "look at it. a continuous series of unfortunate events. one right after another... even our little meeting was staged by both me and my sister. but our little deal still stands."

"so the two of you... you made all of this happen... all the fighting and killing, the pain and the suffering. even gypsy camp."

"yes..." said merithaal. "everything from waking up in the gypsy caravan to leaving the camp in oasis... every pony you talked to, every enemy you fought, and every challenge you faced was influenced by us." merithaal said with a tinge of regret. mordecai however was laughing.

"my favorite part was when you fought with that gypsy chick." he said. "you.. you should have seen you're face... it was pretty funny." he said cracking up. i just growled at him. "wait wait wait... it's better, ready... it wasn't even me..." he started laughing again and i stared at him in confusion. then i turned to see merithaal had her head hanging low. "yep that's right... my big sis planned that part out... i only planned out any fights or enemies you found."

"so that's it then..." i said. "it was all just a test."

"yes." said merithaal. "we knew since the very beginning what you are... this test was designed to push you to become fully realized."

"so this quest that i'm on... is that even true, or was it just an excuse to get me to leave." i said.

"actually now." said mordecai. "your quest is probably the only truth behind all this... we just used it as a cover for the test." i just glared at the both of them. i walked an inch forward and reached out my hoof and grabbed the bright glowing white gem. i held it in my hands and i could feel power like no other leaking from the gem. i put it in my bag and grabbed the black gem. i thought it would be full of hatred and evil but the power coming from this gem was just as beautiful and powerful as the white gem. i put this one in my other bag and i remember being told they should never connect.

"congratulations... 'hero'." said mordecai. he pronounced hero with allot of sarcasm. "you've just officially finished our test."

"we can teleport you back to the temple from here." said merithaal.

"but from here on out we don't give a shit what you do..." said mordecai. "it's been tons of fun kid, see you later... and be sure that we will." he said with an evil grin as he saluted me away. both of them raised their hands and used some kind of force to push me backwards and back into the swirling red vortex.

this time didn't seem to take nearly as long as the last and i found myself quickly surrounded by light. the light faded to darkness and i could feel ground under my feet. i could hear the crack of lightning and the raging force of lava. i once again had my eyes closed. i noticed that the air around me was normal now and the gravity was back to normal despite were i presumed i was.

i opened my eyes and the first thing i saw was a person... a human, but he had wings and armour. he was standing there with his arms crossed and he radiated with a look of indifference. his armour was black with gold decorations but his wings were whiter than snow. his hair was down to his shoulders and was a deep black. his eyes were a terrifying silver. they seemed soulless but seemed to stare out forever.

i noticed that he had a sword with him. there wasn't a sheath but there were leather straps holding it in place. the sword had a very creative and gold hilt. but the blade itself was a shimmering black. we were surprisingly almost the same size bet he was a few inches taller than me. we both stared at each other. i automatically recognized him now that i put the pieces together.

"uhm... you wouldn't happen to be martukus would you?" i asked. he seemed surprised at my question.

"uhm... well yes." he said. he had a very adventurous voice. just the tone of his voice spoke a lot about him and could tell he has been through a lot. "you must be the one who has disturbed the temple." i don't know. i think the temple is the one that disturbed me.

"i swear you were just a statue when i got here." i said.

"thats because i was... i just recently woke up from my stone slumber." he said. "i noticed a cleanly cut hole in the two foot thick iron doors and something told me that we had guests."

"well i knocked and nopony was home so i let myself in..." i said.

"funny..." he said. "now what are you doing here."

"why do you protect this place or something."i said with witty sarcasm.

"no... but i'm curious... and you're awfully shiny for a normal pony." he said pointing at my body that was glowing incredibly bright.

"you don't exactly fit in well yourself..." i said. "what are you anyway."

"i'm what's referred to as a fallen angel." he said. "a powerful angel that carries out the will of god... well i used to... i've taken some time off." he said sort of drifting away from the conversation into his own thoughts, but he quickly pulled back. "so what are you." he asked.

"well i used to be human." i said. that seemed to surprise him a little but he remained steadfast on the outside, but i could feel it inside of him. "then i was a pegasus pony... then i was a shadowmancer...then a husband, then a father, then confused for a lot longer than i'd like to admit, and currently i'm an omni-god." i said.

"uh yeah..." he said giving me a strange look. "i'm not exactly familiar with the term 'omni-god'." he said.

"basically i'm an ageless and perfect being that can suck the energy and power from anything or anyone and use it to become more and more powerful... sort of like an energy sponge." i said.

"alright... so that still doesn't answer my question of what you're doing here." he said.

"i've come here for the gems beyond that portal..." i said. "well i CAME here for the gems, but now i've got them, so i'm leaving." i said spreading my wings and lifting a few feet into the air. i took off and flew over the rock wasteland. before i could go further martukus swooped in from under me and stopped in front of me. i braked and rolled my eyes.

"wait a second... so you just came here and grabbed them." he said.

"yep.." i answered.

"wha... what about the borokk." he said pointing at the ground. he seemed a bit shocked and it was showing on the outside this time.

"you mean those floating rock things." i said. "yeah i killed it... easy."

"ALL OF THEM!." he shouted.

"there was more than one." i said.

"what... yes... there's literally... hundreds." he said pulling on his hair. he quickly flew past me and pointed over to the lake of lava. "what about akkevira the great lava giant... you defeated him."

"there was a great lava giant?" i asked. his jaw dropped and almost hit the ground from this height.

"yes... what the fuck?" he said. "he's supposed to emerge when somebody reaches the top of those stairs... you should have been melted by now."

"nope... perfectly fine." i said. "jeez you act like you were guarding this place." he quickly flew up to me.

"i've been trying to get to that portal for thousands of years." he said. "i don't give a shit about what's on the other side i just wanted to get to the portal."

"well you were right there... why didn't you just use it." i said.

"because if you took the gems from inside that mean the portals going to..." before he could finish the room was shattered by the sound of a deafening bang. i looked past martukus and he looked behind him. the top of the platform had exploded into a large ball of fire and smoke and the stairs and bits of rock fell down into the lava leaving only a fraction of the stairs behind. "...explode." he finished.

"hehe... whoops, sorry." i said feeling a bit guilty.

"fucking hell." he said sounding more annoyed than he was angry. "well there goes that option."

"what option?" i asked. he turned and pointed and angry finger at me.

"you shut the fuck up..." he said. "you should be dead and sitting in that room as a damn statue."

"what... what are you talking about." i said.

"you can't possibly this fucking dumb..." he said. "do you even know what this place is." he asked.

"yeah its a temple." i said.

"no you idiot, its a gauntlet." he said. now i was the one who was surprised. "for thousands of years beings of all powers came here and tried to make it to the portal and claim those gems that you carry in you're bag... that room upstairs is a memoriam of those who fell to the gauntlet."

"but you were a statue too..." i said. "that means you died here but... i'm talking to you."

"i'm a freaking angel... i'm already dead... when i'm killed i just sleep for a thousand years then i'm fine." he said.

"alright jeez." i said backing up a bit. "why are you getting so angry... you're not acting like its the end of the world so it can't be that bad."

"i'm not mad that the portal exploded." he said. "i'm just pissed that some idiot just walked right through everything and cheated me out of one of my few options." he said.

"options for what." i asked.

"none of you're business." he said. he flew in circles for a bit thinking and i just watched him. i couldn't help but be intrigued by him. i was surprised that he was human... not to mention an angel of god. after a little bit he finally stopped pacing. "well i guess there's no more need to be here." he said and he rocketed off to the exit of the large cavern.

"hey wait." i said. i soon took off and tailed right behind him he zoomed we both zoomed past the wasteland in a matter of seconds. he swooped down and dove right into the hallway past the doors. i stopped and looked in confusion... wait... what. i quickly floated over and ran through the hall till i got to the stairs. i looked up the staircase to see he was flying up it.

how can he do that... i looked closer and noticed that his wings just passed through the walls like they weren't even there. unlike mine his wings were transparent which didn't make so much sense because at the time being my wings were made of pure light... but whatever.

i closed my eyes and in a flash of light i was gone and when i opened my eyes i was at the top of the stairs now. just in time for him to fly right up but bank and pass me by. the hallway was much larger than the stairs and i was able to take off after him. we both flew down the hall then turned the corner, up the stairs and then out into the main hall. i looked at the statues and noticed that the place where martukus's statue should be was empty now.

"hew wait." i said. he ignored me and flew out of the huge doors by just passing through them. i gulped and aimed for the hole i cut in the door. i swooped down and gained enough speed to tuck my wings and and spiral through the hole. when i was out i spread my wings again and flew back after him. i kept yelling to get his attention. "c'mon... would you just stop." i said. this time he actually did stop. i braked hard and tried to keep myself from crashing into him.

"you got what you were looking for..." he said. "what the hell do you want now."

"why was that portal so important to you." i asked.

"none of you're business." he said... alright then.

"how did you get to this world..." i asked.

"i came here on my own." he said. a small spark of hope lit up inside me which quickly burst into a fire of mixed emotions.

"so does that mean you know how of a way to get back to earth and our own worlds." i asked with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement.

"well i KNEW of a way to get back..." he said. "but you're dumb ass just blew it up." he said with his arms crossed.

"oh..." i said. "i'm sorry... trust me i am...". his angered mood seemed to diminish at the sight of my regret. he let out a sigh.

"it's alright..." he said. "besides i know that there are other ways back... i just never thought it would be this hard." i looked at him and smiled and he flashed me a little smirk too. "so what do you need with those gems... you don't exactly seem like the kind of guy that would hoard power and use it to take over the world." he said with a hint of sarcasm and curiosity.

"well the black gem is for princess luna of equestria..." i said. he raised an eyebrow at the mentioning of lunas name. "and i was going to absorb the energy of the white crystal admittedly."

"how do you know of princess luna." he asked.

"well she's the one who asked me to get it for her." i said. "i said i would and then allot of crazy shit happened... now i have the gems... and i guess now i should be heading home to equestria."

"the trip back to equestria is a long one from here." said martukus.

"not so much..." i replied. "i was planning on just teleporting back."

"right..." he said. "well i guess this is where our paths split."

"i guess so." i replied.

"i have a feeling i'll see you again soon though." he said with a smirk. before i could say goodby he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and suddenly he was gone. i let out a deep sigh. i closed my eyes and concentrated on the road right outside of ponyville.

as i began to focus enough energy to teleport i was starting to get excited and memories of my friends started flashing before my eyes. i had to concentrate though. i thought hard about ponyville and soon i started pulling energy from the very air as i started floating without the use of my wings. electrical energy shot from my body and hit any high growing trees

and in a flash i was gone. i vanished leaving behind a large beacon of light and a rippling wave of energy. i was so excited to be in ponyville but instantly after i teleported the entire front of my body raptured and was filled with overwhelming pain. i yelled out and fell to the ground. i grit my teeth and looked up to see a large multicolored barrier... i guess it doesn't allow for magical transport.

i got up and walked up to it and looked at it with glee. i was so close to home. i took a deep breath and started walking forward. i went to take my first step back into equestria. before i could go into equestria i walked right into the barrier and stopped. i backed up a bit.

"what the hell." i said. i put my hoof on the shield and it was solid as a rock... like a huge glass dome. "what... no... no please... FUCK." i roared causing a short burst of great energy that only lasted a second. i started banging on the barrier but stopped after a couple minutes. "this must be another fucking test... fine... you want to test me, we'll see who's laughing." i said getting angry and getting into a stance and grounding myself.

i concentrated on the other side of the barrier and started pouring all my energy into teleporting. no matter how hard i tried there just seemed to be something that wouldn't let me pass. i could feel myself getting closer to the other side but there was some kind of force pulling me back.

as i fought to get past the barrier my body had started glitching and flashing as parts of me began moving but were pulled back. technically i was stretched out over the distance from here and where i wanted to be. i poured in more and more energy and started becoming very unstable. blasts of pure energy started firing from my body like solar flares and lighting shot from every direction. just when i thought i would explode... it happened.

there was a deafening boom followed by a great flash of light and a large signal beam from where i was. i felt myself pass through something strong for only a fraction of a second but then i was where i wanted to be. i looked and i was on the other side of the barrier. but the teleportation might not have been as i desired. i was perfectly healthy... but the path between here and where i was... well its not so healthy.

i looked past the barrier and saw a huge crater where i was. it was at least 30 feet in diameter and the surface was melted and turned to magma. it was like that all the way through the barrier to where i am now. the area outside of the barrier was completely void of organic life now. it just looked like a patch of dirt now... it used to be part of a forest. and even the barrier wasn't doing well. the spot where i punched through had turned black and seemed dead... like a bruise. i'm going to have to let celestia know that i broke her shield.

i stood there and looked at the collateral damage i caused. before i could continue to look at it i was soon filled with overwhelming joy and excitement as i soon realized that i was back in equestria. i got so excited that i burst out into joy.

"Fuck YEAH..." i shouted jumping into the air and doing a backflip. "wooo, take that world..." i said. "fuck you mordecai and merithaal... fuck you and you're tests." i started to do an embarrassing victory dance when i realised that i was burning time when i could be teleporting to ponyville by now. and with that i my mind i wasted no time. i closed my eyes and i was gone.

when i opened my eyes i saw that i was on a road. it was a very familiar road. i looked over to my left and saw forested area. i looked to the right and i could see a small town off in the distance past the hill... it was ponyville. even just the sight of it brought a huge smile to my face. it felt unbelievable to be home.

as excited as i was i started trotting over to the town with moderate speed but as i came over the hill and close to the edge of town i stopped and started to walk again. i calmly walked over the hill and i was right at the edge of town now. i had expected to be greeted by the sight of familiar ponies crowding the street... but they were empty.

the empty street was raised a level of concern that was enough to wipe the smile from my face. i walked into town and started looking around. i looked back and forth through the streets looking for any discernible sign of life but there wasn't any. the town didn't seem abandoned because houses were still full and shops and stands still had goods and products behind the shelves. the streets look like they should be filled with life but their not.

i kept walking around and soon enough i had come across sugarcube corner. i looked at the huge gingerbread styled house which is always bustling with ponies looking for some of mr. and mrs. cakes goodies... but it was completely empty. i walked over to the window and had to bring my head down to look inside.

there were fresh treats in the display cases and a pie cooling on the windowsill in the kitchen. there was still steam coming from the pie. there were also... baby toys and high chairs?... did the cakes have a baby?... how much have i missed? i pulled away from the window and stepped back into the middle of the street. i think i'm done with epic quests for a long, long time. its already going to take me a week to tell rainbow and the others my story.

i looked back and forth in the streets but i couldn't see anypony. i was starting to get worried now. suddenly my ears picked up a very faint sound from my right. i turned my head and looked down the road. there was nopony there but i started walking down the path anyway. as i walked i looked into houses and shops which looked perfectly neat and clean... just empty.

when i reached the end of the road i could hear some more noise. it was very faint and i couldn't make it out to be anything specific just yet, but i could tell that i was coming from my right again. i looked over to the right side of the street. this was the street from the main street of the market district. if i'm correct then it if i take a left it should bring me right into the center of town.

i started walking down the path and i followed the noise closely but i was still unable to make it into anything specific. as i calmly walked down the road the sound grew louder and louder and i soon realized that it wasn't just one sound but a whole collection of sounds. i grew more and more curious and confused as i got closer to the end of the road. by the time the left turn had come up it was much easier to hear what was going on.

i could hear the sounds of multiple conversations going on at the same time. though some of the voices sounded familiar there was still too many voices for me to identify them. if i had to guess they've all gathered in town center. it must be something special. but what could it be. its already two days into january and it seems that they've already wrapped up winter. with several emotions and feeling gnawing at my head i couldn't stay here any longer. i turned the corner and walked forward to see what all the commotion was about.

i looked into the large town center and saw that everypony was there just as i thought. but they weren't all standing in one huge group facing the town common. instead they were everywhere and in small groups. they were all laughing and having fun. some ponies were dancing and there was a refreshments table and, and... it was a fucking party.

i looked around and scanned the scene my eyes stopped when i finally saw what i was hoping to see. my friends. dash, twilight, applejack, rarity, pinkie and fluttershy were all standing in a group... with... celestia! the princess was standing there laughing and smiling with my friends. there were a few other ponies with them too. it was...uh...but...how... it was mystee!

mystee and her family were there with my friends and the princess laughing and smiling. i was so confused that i almost fainted. i could see black patches covering my vision and my legs started to buckle out from underneath me. i managed to come through and stop myself from blacking out from confusion. there can only be one logical explanation for this... i'm dead.

that must be it... i must have hit that shield too hard and i probably died on impact and now i'm either in heaven or this could be some kind of sick twisted hell. it was obviously the only reasonable explanation. i stared in awe at the group... well mostly confusion and denial... but there was some awe in there.

suddenly celestia looked up and turned her head. she looked over and focused her gaze right at me. she looked me right in the eyes and instead of acting surprised to see me she smiled. she turned to the majority of the crowd and cleared her voice.

"listen up my little ponies." she said in a loud, authoritative but greatly loving voice. everypony in ponyville turned their attention to her. "it would appear that out guest of honor has arrived." she said as she turned her head and looked at me.

"guest of honor?" i said quietly to myself. every single pony in ponyville followed celestia's gaze until their eyes rested right on me. "damnit celestia." i said softly again. i can't believe she literally just gave me all the attention in ponyville. the crowd was silent and they all just looked at me with strange faces. it was a bit more subtle than the outcome i had predicted.

before anything else happened i saw something shoot up from the sky and rocket towards me. i turned to see what it was but my vision was canceled out by a flurry of multiple colors and pain. something hit me right in the chest and tackled me right to the ground. i fell and hit the dirt with an 'off' and lost my breath for a second. as i gained my bearings i noticed the 'thing' that tackled me was actually rainbow dash who was hugging my armour. seeing dash accept me and recognize me as 'crimson' the crowd lightened up and smiled. they soon walked over and started talking and crowding around.

" you liar..." she said to me.

"what?" i said confused but still happy.

"you said it would be a two month journey..." she said. she had a few tears in her eyes but she was smiling. but i could feel that she was a bit angry at me.

" i missed you too dash." i said hugging her back. i'm certain it wasn't very comfortable seeing as i was wearing armour. i honestly forget sometimes. it usually feels like there's nothing there. i used my magic to make the armour disintegrate so it would be better. when it was gone i finally got to feel the warmth of my wife for the first time in a long time. i got up and stood on my own hooves and so did dash. i looked over and saw that i was significantly taller than everypony else.

celestia and my other friends walked through the crowd with was parting and making way for celestia. allot of the ponies at this point returned to mingling and having fun. when celestia walked up to me i was shocked to see that i was actually taller than even her... but only by a few inches.

"welcome back crimson..." said celestia. "did you have fun on you're journey."

"fun is one word to describe it i guess." i said. "i would have used a few other words like, interesting... confusing... painful, tedious, boring...hmm... convoluted... words like that."

"convoluted?" said twilight with curiosity.

"i can't exactly tell you that its a long story because that would be too much of an understatement." i said. "besides its hard to wrap up five months of adventure into one story..." i said.

"five months..." said twilight snickering.

"thats quite an understatement right there sugarcube." said applejack.

"what do you mean..." i said. they looked at me with confused faces. " i left in august and its early january... five months." i said.

"crimson... are you alright." asked twilight. celestia just stood there. i looked over at her hoping she would speak up and explain everything but she remained indifferent to the conversation. i started to freak out a bit and my eyes narrowed.

"but...but. in oasis... it was winter... late december, i know it was. i- i left the camp 4 days ago...i-i... but." i started stammering because i didn't know what to say.

"crimson." said dash pulling away from me and looking worried. "you've been gone for more than two years..." she said.

"t-two... two years... but... i... and the..." is all i managed to make out before i was unable to speak further. i started getting dizzy and i was seeing black spots in my vision. soon my legs buckled out from under me and i was on the ground.

everything went dark.

-Authors Note: may god have mercy on my soul... you're all just lucky that i love you guys enough to keep up with this. but before i continue ranting there are important things that need to be said:

1.) i would like to thank **Battle Damage** for allowing me the use of his OC Martucus, who by the way will be appearing further into the story.

2.) you guys are great and i love writing this story... but i'm getting tired of this shit. so i'm going on break to study for midterms next week. i'll pick back up after next week and i'll already have the next chapter for you guys.

3.) i understand that some of you guys have very well noticed that i'm not good with capitalization and punctuation and stuff. you keep telling me that i need to work on it and asking if you guys can spell check it for me... STOP. this has happened six times in the past week and it's getting a bit old. first of all, I KNOW... i chose to write like this because it makes the story more dynamic and interesting. secondly if you've all made it this far into the story that means you must not care so much, so dont bring it up... just let it be. i understand you guys say its because some people wont read a story if it has bad grammar and stuff... well fuck those people.

-back to ranting-

so yeah after all that was said and done i did feel like this chapter was a bit rushed towards the end but dont worry because i make sense of it all later on. i was going to put in tons of fighting and monsters, but really guys... i cant feel my fingertips. if some of you where a bit disappointing in how this chapter played out then i apologize but dont freak out and die... i can fix it. not the chapter, but i can fix your hungering need for bloodshed and glorious battle. ive already got tons of twists and turns and fights n' shit pilled up in a huge stack of papers sitting next to my desk and tormenting me with their needs and indifference. so really guys... dont worry... I've got plans... many...many, diabolically evil and overly ingenious plans.

so keep reading

.

.

.

and stay shady... bye.-End of Note-


	78. Chapter 78: Aftermath

**-WARNING-**

**this chapter contains scenes of graphic and sexual nature. if you do not wish to see such things then please submerge your computer in a mixture of phosphoric acid, bleach, ammonia, and various other household decontaminants... if not read ahead.**

**-YOU HAVE BEEN** WARNED-

I slowly started to come through and I could feel the weight of covers and the caress of a soft mattress on my back. I slowly opened both of my eyes and looked around the room. I smiled when I noticed that it was my room. I was in my old house now. I looked around but noticed I was the only one in the room. Some part of me was actually hoping that everything was just a dream... But it was stupid of me to think that.

I grabbed the covers and threw them off of me. I sat up and leaned against the headboard. I took up almost the entire bed... I might have to do a few home improvements. I scratched my forehead and tried to recall what happened. It wasn't hard to recall. I do remember dash saying something about me being gone for more than two years... But I still refuse to believe that.

The door across the room creaked open and broke the silence. I looked over in anticipation as to who it might be. I was hoping it was dash or at least twilight. I kept hoping but instead of dash or twilight a familiar black stallion walked into the room. It was black hoof... What?

"B-black hoof." I stammered. "When did you get here?" I don't remember ever seeing him at the party or with the others.

" I've always been here." He said. " I didn't see you at the party because I was in the bathroom."... Charming.

" w-what... What happened." I asked.

" we'll as far as I've been told you blacked out after finding out that you've been gone for two years" he said.

"T-two... Two years." I said become a bit hazy and seeing black spots again. I started to lean over but black hoof quickly rushed over and held me up. I managed to stay conscious this time.

" damn your heavy." He said holding me up. I kept my self up and he let go.

" how could I have been gone for two years... It doesn't make sense. It's only been five months." I said refusing to believe it.

" princess celestia actually explained this..." Said black hoof. "Something about a portal and the space time continuum."

" what..." I said confused. The words he said just completely passed by me and I don't even remember what he just said.

" I'm not really sure myself but I'm certain that twilight can explain it to you." He said. " but dash sent me up here to check on you because she's downstairs making you something to eat."

"God damn my head." I moaned as my head started pounding. I rubbed my forehead and tried to make it better but it didn't help too much.

" are you alright." He asked.

" I'm healthy yes... But I'm not alright." I replied. " two fucking years... I better get a good explanation before the end of the day how I went missing for two years."

" like I said... I'm sure twilight could tell you." Said black hoof. " why don't you stay here and I go get dash... I'm sure the both of you will want to spend some time together." He said smiling. He quickly turned around and left the room closing the door behind him. I could hear his hoof steps trotting all the way down the stairs and growing fainter.

I listened closely and I could hear the sound of several voices down the stairs. It's probably my friends all sitting in my living room waiting for me to regain consciousness. I could hear the mumbling of ever so familiar voices and laughter. Soon I heard more hoof steps trotting up the stairs this time. I waited patiently and the door started to creak open.

Rainbow dash walked into the room with a fresh pie in her hoof and a smile across her face. I looked back at her and smiled too. It felt great just to see her face again and know that we can both be together now.

"Hey honey." She said walking over and setting the pie down on the end table. She sat up on the bed and faced me. " I'm glad your back."

" it feels better to be back." I said. " but you're not surprised to see me... Like this." I said changing to my drastically changed body. She just smiled and rubbed her hoof across my chest.

" I really missed you..." She said. "You could only imagine my surprise when a band of travelers passed into ponyville a bit more than a year ago and settled down."

" really... A year ago" I said.

" hmmm..." She said. " they just decided to camp out near the outer edge of town near the everfree forest... When we asked them why they where here that mystee girl just said 'we're waiting for a friend'..." She started snickering a bit.

" what's so funny." I asked.

" I'm just remembering my face when we found out they were waiting for you." She replied. " I'm sure the others would have laughed if they weren't equally surprised."

" I'm sure they might have..." I said.

"Speaking of the others." Said dash smiling and getting off the bed." I'm sure that they all want to see you... Why don't we go down and we can finally all meetup."

" that sounds great..." I said. Me and dash doth stood up and walked over to the door. I followed her across the hall and then down the stairs. When we turned over into the living room I was greeted by the smiling faces of my friends. I saw twilight, applejack, rarity, fluttershy, mystee and her family, and even black hoof... But pinkie pie and Derek whereby here.

" there he is..." Said applejack when she spotted me and dash. The others turned around and smiled.

" it's about time darling... We thought you'd never wake up." Said rarity.

" it's great to see you again." Said fluttershy in a very timid voice as usual.

" you took quite a fall earlier." Said twilight.

" yeah, about that." I said. " black hoof told me that you could tell me about that..." I said guessing she knew what I meant, and I'm sure she did.

" of course... But let's save that for later... Why don't we have some fun now... Pinkie said she had a surprise for you."

" I can't wait." I said changing my mood into a smile. Dash walked over and sat down on a chair and gestured me over.

" we saved you a seat." Said dash pointing over to my recliner. I walked over and stood next to it. First thing I noticed was that there was no way in hell I was going to fit in this.

"It's a bit small." I said.

" maybe we should have thought this out more..." Said applejack.

" it's fine." I said. I took a seat next to dash and fluttershy on the floor after pushing the chair to the side. Everypony seemed to be interested that I just pushed the chair aside with ease except for mystee and her family who are probably used to my strength. " I don't mind sitting on the floor."

" so I think the first question should be... How was the journey." Asked rarity batting her eyelashes.

"Actually before you answer that I have something I want to say." Said mystee. I looked over to her and she was smiling but it was a weak smile." I just want to say that... I'm sorry." Remembering what happened between me and her i smiled.

" I'm sorry too mystee..." I said.

" wait... Sorry 'bout what?" Asked applejack.

" me and I left mystee and her family with some harsh feelings." I replied.

" and that's why I came here." She said. " we left the gypsy camp and came here to Equestria."

" and I'm happy you're here." I said. " but how did you get across the desert again."

" we didn't go across the desert actually." Said Jericco. " our new friend black hoof here showed us a path that cuts through the mountains or Boriimar."

" they were ancient dwarven ruins." Said black hoof. " we made it back within a month."

" when they got here, mystee and her family told us all the stories about you." Said twilight. " but I'm sure that there's more to it than that... So what was the rest of the trip like." She asked

" we'll..." I said. " I could probably write a book with the shit I've seen... But the journey across Equestria was the easy part. I stopped at a few cities and small towns... I even stayed a while at gryphon village."

" we know that part..." Said rarity. I raised an eyebrow in question.

" word quickly spread about your dealings with the crucible..." Said dash. " I've always wondered what it would be like."

" and you've got celestial thanks for dealing with it..." Said twilight. " after you interfered and killed the crucibles most decorated competitor and then left the organization running it lost their cash cow... After a while it crumbled and failed."

" I had no idea that happened." I said. " I never thought it would crumble to ruin."

" celestia has been barking up that tree for years now." Said black hoof. " she could never get to it though... I never knew why."

" that's because the crucible isn't in gryphon village... Or even in Equestria." I said. " they have portals that lead to it... It's somewhere outside the barrier... So celestia has no control over it."

" so what happened after you left Equestria." Asked fluttershy.

" we'll after passed through the barrier I traveled the road for a while... Then... Hmmm." I pondered for a minute thinking back until I remembered. " then I came across a small town not even on the map... I hunkered down there to wait out a vicious storm... Then I... I uh was... I was kicked out." I said.

" kicked out?" Said applejack suspiciously. " did ya do some thin' wrong."

" not exactly." I said rolling my eyes. " it's a bit more complicated than that... You see." I was about to explain but before I could there was a knock on the door. Before anypony could answer it the door was shoved open. In the doorway was pinkie pie with a huge smile on her face with Big Mac behind her pulling a wagon with a huge cake on it.

" SURPRISE EVERYPONY." She shouted out. She quickly sprinted over and hugged me while Big Mac pulled the cake over.

" hey pinkie... How's it going." I said.

" super duper." She said chipper as ever. " I've got a surprise for you."

" it wouldn't happen to be that cake would it." I said with a smile looking past her as she hopped off me and sat down with the rest of us.

" of course silly willy." She said.

" pinkie pie... Did you make another marzipan meringue madness cake." Said rarity... I didn't understand at least half of that.

" you betcha." Said pinkie. " a moment like this deserves the greatest cake ever." She said getting more excited than before. The others just giggled and laugh... I even chuckled a bit too, I'm surprised to say that after all this time I've forgotten how chipper and happy pinkie could be. I looked around and saw that Derek still wasn't here.

" hey..." I said. " where's thunder rush." I asked. The mood of the room changed from happy to something else... Remorse I'd say. Every ponies faces went a either black or regretful. " what?." I asked questionably.

" darling..." Said rarity." Thunder rush is... Well he's gone."

" what do you mean gone." I asked worryingly that something had happened to him.

" no pony has seen him in two years." Said twilight. " when you stopped writing we thought you had been killed... And one day... Well he just wasn't here... There was no trace of him and no pony saw him leave." Hearing this I lightened up a bit knowing he wasn't dead... If I know Derek he'll be fine.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." I said. The others seemed confused at my response. " if I know thunder rush he's probably just a bit confused... Give it time and he'll come back."

" so lets dig into this cake." Said pinkie with enthusiasm. She managed to change the mood in the room and we all smiled and laughed. We all got up and had some of the cake pinkie made... Whatever it was called. I honestly have to say it was the best cake I've ever had... And it was huge... Barely fit in the house.

It was also the best tasting cake I've ever had. The others had about one or two pieces each accept for me and pinkie. She had like four pieces but I had about nine or ten before I was full. The others expected me to start getting a huge gut... But I remained lean and fit.

" so crimson." Said twilight. " mystee told me you have some new powers and such... I would love to see them." Said twilight.

" we'll it's mostly combat..." I replied. " I'm not even sure I know all of the powers I have... But I could show you a few." I said. I looked around the room and tried to think of something. I suddenly remembered the philosopher that I absorbed into myself... That's bound to have a lot of useful things... Lets try one.

I held out my hoof and focused my energy. When I knew what I wanted to do it wasn't hard to do it. Vein like lines on my body started glowing red and pulsing. An aura of red dust and energy started forming in my hand and started pressing together and making was a low hum then a bright red flash. When the flash cleared I was holding a little stone statue of twilight in my hoof. The others saw it and smiled.

" that's so cool." Said dash.

" yes... Very impressive." Said twilight smiling. I smiled too and handed her the little stone statue. She grabbed it and put it down next to her. I looked around the room and something felt off... I soon knew what it was.

" wait a second..." I said in a serious voice. the others looked at me all confused. "where are my kids..." i said with a smile that made the others smile too.

"dawn is sleeping but i can go get her..." said dash.

"no let her sleep." i said. "wheres scootaloo?"

"i'm not really sure." said dash looking around. "she ran out of here a while ago without saying where she's going... *sigh*, she's been doing that a lot lately."

"it's alright... we can let her have her fun." i said. "besides i'm sure she's with her friends at their tree house."

"if it helps, she was very excited to hear you were coming back." said twilight.

"thats for sure." said dash. "she was actually here earlier... she was sleeping right next to you while you were passed out... then she just ran out the door into town."

i smiled and went back to the other conversations. me and my friends talked and caught up as time passed by. soon it started to grow late and the others started heading home. one by one they left, even mystee and black hoof. soon it was just me and twilight since dash went upstairs to shower and wash up.

"so twilight." i said.

"yes crimson."

"you still didn't explain to me that thing from earlier." i said. she just smiled in a smart and haughty way.

"ah... that's right." she said. "pay attention because you're going to love this." she said.

"alright hit me."

" so princess celestia and princess luna have both been monitoring you're progress. approximately five months after you left ponyville you reached the temple in black marsh... is that correct." she asked.

"yep..." i replied.

"then you jumped into a portal below it... then you disappeared for two years." she said.

"so... it was the portal." i asked. she nodded. "how does that work."

"well the portal you walked into was an omni-dimensional portal. it warped you to a place that is outside the reach of space and time. you might have only spent a few minutes there but when you left you were sent back to the same position in the fabric of space but not in the same time... honestly it was random and could have spit you out at any moment in time be it in the past present of future." twilight said. she seemed kind of nervous to hear my reply.

"alright..." i said. she dropped her jaw.

"al- alright?" she said. "you're not bothered by this."

"not really... i've learned to come to peace with a lot of things recently... and earlier i decided that i didn't care what happened to me... i was here now and everypony is alive and healthy... so who gives a shit." i said with a mildly chipper tone. twilight just laughed.

"it's great to have you back crimson... it really is." she said.

"thanks twi... it's good to be back... hope you didn't have too much trouble with me gone." i said.

"there were a few crazy adventures here and there..." she said. "but it was nothing we couldn't handle."

"glad to hear it..." i said. twilight cupped her hoof over her mouth and let out a yawn. "it's getting late... why don't you head home and get some rest... tomorrow we can all go out and relax by the lake or something." i said.

"sounds great..." she said walking past me and over to the front door. i followed her close behind. "i'll hold you on that." she said opening the door. "i'll see you tomorrow." she said walking out.

"goodnight twilight." i said and the door closed. dash was still in the shower so i decided to go see my little girl. i walked around the house and got to dawns room. i opened the door and slowly walked in. the night light was on in the corner and it was enough to find my way around.

i walked over to dawns crib and looked in to see her. she was much bigger than she was last time i saw her. she was sleeping like a baby still even though she's three. i gently picked her up with my wings and cradled her. she smiled and made a cute little noise. she curled up on her side and started suckig her own hoof. it made me giggle a bit.

i cradled her a bit longer before i heard a knock on the door. i gently placed her back in the crib and left the room. i closed the door behind me just as the front door was knocked on again. i calmly walked over to the front door and opened it up. on the other side not too much surprise was princess luna. i had almost forgot.

"ah... hello luna." i said with a smile. "i was wondering when you would show up... then again this would be an appropriate time... come on in." i said gesturing her in.

"thank you crimson..." she said. "its good to see you're back... i'm sure you were more than successful."

"i wouldn't say more than... but i have them." i said. i quickly used my magic to teleport both stones right in front of me. they popped up with a flash and floated in front of me. luna smiled. she was about to say something but she was interrupted by a voice not too far away.

"p-princess luna!" said dash from the top of the stairs. she had damp fur and a towel on her back from the shower.

"hello rainbow dash." said luna.

"i guess you're here for the black gem floating in front of my husbands face." said dash. i looked back at her and smiled, she smiled back and walked over.

"yes i am... i'm also going to need to borrow crimson for a few minutes." said luna. "i hope that's alright." she seemed rather guilty about having to take me after i just got back, but dashes mood didn't seem to change.

"it's alright... just have him back soon." she said jokingly. it made me chuckle a bit. luna just smiled and nodded.

"are you ready crimson..." said luna looking over to me with a smile.

"guess i have to finish this some time." i said. luna smiled and i looked over to dash. "i'll be home soon baby." i said giving her a peck on the cheek before lunas magic beamed us away to the moon. i could see energy and magic shooting past my face and soon enough we were inside the lunar castle.

somehow the direct influence of her magic caused my armour and gear to reappear and i was glowing again. this time however my armour changed to suit the moon landscape and it was glowing a deep but vividly bright blue. it seemed to give of small star like specks of energy that floated by me and twinkled. i looked over to luna who was looking at me and my armour.

"thats quite impressive..." she said.

"it is pretty interesting... i only wish i could control it... this damn armour and shit seems to have a mind of its own." i said. i looked over to see the black gem levitating beside me and luna. the white one must have been left at my house... afterall luna said that one was mine... and i kinda can't wait to absorb its energy.

"so are you ready..." she said.

"remind me again why you need the gem..." i asked.

"to restore balance in the moon... look over there." she said pointing out of a window and to the distance. across the landscape of the moon laid the city full of bat ponies. beyond it were several other cities. but beyond that was a sea of darkness that i guessed was the dark side of the moon.

"are you talking about the dark side of the moon." i asked.

"yes..." said luna. "when you first came here it wasn't visible from the castle... but its been two years and the darkness is growing over the surface of the moon... if left to continue, it would engulf the whole moon in absolute darkness... i expect you to know what that is." she said.

"absolute darkness is darkness that consumes light and energy... there would be no possibility of seeing and no way to light up the area around you." i said.

"correct... but with this, we can repel the darkness and restore the moon to it's former glory." she said. she turned around and faced the area behind us. i did the same and saw what was behind me.

there was a great circular room with obelisks and sculptures of moons and other things. in the center was a large sculpture. it was a circle with a star. but in the middle was the outline of the gem floating between me and luna. the sculpture wasn't exactly a pentagram since the pentagon shape was inside the circle while the points of the star stuck out of the circle.

"this beacon is designed to harness the crystals energy." she said. "i need you to place it there in the center of the energy matrix."

"shouldn't you be the one to do this." i said.

"making contact with the gem might reawaken nightmare night within me... and she would be stronger than ever with the gems powers." i started to remember that part of the quest.

i grabbed hold of the black gem and started making my way to the statue. i walked towards it and noticed small carvings and lines in the ground that ran across the floor and up to the statue. i also noticed five small obelisks surrounding the statue as i walked by them. i was now standing in front of the statue.

i swallowed all my nervousness and curiosity and put the black gem up to the statue. i fit it inside the slot and it seemed to cement itself in place. soon after it started glowing black and the room lit up. the carvings running across the ground lit up black and ran throughout the whole kingdom. the carving even ran up to the obelisks which i noted had obsidian like tips.

the tips of the obelisks started glowing black and humming. to my surprise one of the obelisks fired a small continuous beam to the crystal. before i knew it they all did the same. the beams looked like little black lazers from a laser pointer pen of something. i stepped back and watched the whole room come to life and fill with energy.

the beams connected to the crystal kept firing until there was a loud blasting sound and the beams from the obelisks grew thicker and unstable. the energy being fired from them was like a combination of a laser and lightning, black lightning. the gem started glowing furiously and began pulling energy out of the air.

then, BAM! it burst and fired a huge laser right into the air. i looked up to where it was going and saw that there was a long tower like tube in the ceiling that led right outside into the sky. i continuously fired off rings of energy and kept firing the laser into the air. every time a ring of energy passed over me, my body seemed to naturally pull the energy out of the air around me and absorb it... i could feel the great power. i looked back and saw that luna was equally shocked as me and she too could feel the power.

the laser firing from the crystal quietly died down but the crystal started glowing even brighter and was buzzing even louder than before. the ground started to shake a bit and then everything was silent... but only for a second.

the gem burst one last time and fired off a giant field of black energy. i flew over and past me and luna. i turned to see out the window. the barrier seemed to stretch endlessly. when it met the darkness it destroyed all of it. the darkness grew smaller as the shield grew larger and soon there was no more. when the blast met with itself on the other side there was a huge clash and the shield glowed brightly. it went from black to a vivid blue and light up the sky.

it soon faded and everything was silent. the darkness was gone and the moon actually seemed to be shining brighter than before. i looked back to the gem which was sitting in its case and glowing lightly. the decorations and everything around it were glowing and etching on the floor, walls and pillars was still glowing black.

i smiled and laughed a bit to myself. it felt good knowing this was officially the end of my quest. luna walked over and stood next to me. she smiled and was about to say something but before she could we were both blinded by a strong flash of light... or should i say, darkness.

the gem had started glowing and buzzing again. i looked over at it with a confused face wondering what could be happening now. the gem glowed brightly again and the obelisks fired their electric beams of energy at the crystal and the humming and buzzing grew louder. there was another loud crash as the crystal fired another laser... but this time it went right for me.

not knowing what to do the blast hit me almost instantly and covered me in black energy. it seemed to raise me into the air and i could feel incredible power rushing through my body. the darkness took over my armour and started changing it. it became black and covered in spikes head to hoof. my crown grew sharper and had more thorns. the cape turned black and holes were torn in it. even my marks and glowing aura changed to black. and my wings went from being feathered and broke out into dark cloudy and glowing black demon wings.

my mane turned a dark abyssal black and my coat turned a deep grey. i could even feel fangs start to grow in my teeth. it was like what i used to look like as a shadowmancer but... well more badass. i felt so much energy rushing into my body and soon it stopped and the beam stopped firing at me. i had risen several feet in the air and when the beam let go i fell. i landed on both hooves and hit the ground with a thundering crash.

i stood up straight breathing heavily from the rush of power and energy. i looked over myself for a second but i noticed my armour was now fading back to normal. it didn't go back to shining blue but it was glowing white now. but even now i was more different than before.

the armour style was the same and even my weapons had a more sinister look to them. my sword had a few sharp prongs before it shot out into the actual blade. the armour was still spiked in a lot of places and it had a dragon scale pattern with black glowing details and designs. instead of glowing a golden white i was just glowing a greyish, silver. the crown was the same too and the hood and cape were whole but the had decorative leather patches on them for sturdiness. the fands and demon wings were gone and my glowing aura was dimming now.

my wings returned to their regular solid and feathered state. i noticed that my wings were now armoured too. the had plates at the base to the tip with long feather like blades that seemed to act like shields for the feathered half of my wings. at the top of the wings facing forward were small blades, should i wish to cut through obstacles or something. luckily nothing about my physical being changed except for a few barely noticeable differences in the symbols on my body.

"well that was quite unexpected." said luna. "are you alright." she asked getting up from the corner. i guess i must have fired off some kind of pulse that knocked her back.

"yeah i'm fine... infact i'm stronger now." i said. i looked back at the crystal which was humming and glowing in its perch.

"if a jolt of energy from the burning shadow gave you that much power... what will happen if you absorb all of the blinding shard." asked luna.

"i'm not sure." i said looking over to her. "but i'm strangely eager to find out."

"do you wish for me to bring you home now." she said.

"yes..." i said. "and can you not mention what happened here to anypony."

"of course." she said. "have fun... and take care crimson." she said as her horn started to glow. "until we meet again." i just smiled and nodded as she blasted me with a beam of magic and i was blinded by a white light. when the light faded i saw that i was inside of my house now. i looked around and saw that a few lights were still on. i looked next to me and saw the blinding shard just floating there and lighting up the room.

i grabbed it in my hoof and walked up the stairs. i walked down the hall and into my study. i looked around and looked at all the things i had collected from my miscellaneous adventures. they started bringing back memories. i placed the blinging shard in the middle of my desk and it just hovered right above the desk lighting up the room still. i walked out and closed the door. i walked back down the hall and over to the bedroom. i walked in and looked around. the first thing i noticed was rainbowdash sitting in the bed reading a book. i walked over to her.

"since when do you read books." i asked. hearing my voice, she jumped a bit and dropped the book.

"oh hey..." she said. "i didn't notice you were back."

"you must be pretty into this book." i said picking up the book. "i do have pretty heavy hoofsteps... hmm, daring doo huh." i said looking at the title. i handed the book back to dash but she closed it and put it on the end table.

"yeah... i got into reading books a while ago... the daring doo books are my favorite." she said. "but i'm done reading now... why don't you climb into bed." she said.

i smiled and crawled into the bed. it was a bit awkward seeing that i take up almost all the space in the bed. i laid down on my back and looked over to dash. my back hooves were hanging off the end of the bed and i was probably making the legs bend in. soon enough there was a loud snap and the bed fell and crashed to the ground. the legs had snapped. the bed hit the ground with a loud crash and rainbow somehow fell on top of me.

"that was embarrassing..." i said. i soon started laughing and so did rainbow.

"i guess we do have some home improvements to make." she said.

"i could probably just fix the bed later and make it bigger." i said.

"why not do it right now." said dash.

"thats true." i said. i concentrated for a mere second and instantly there was a flash of light and me and dash were higher off the ground. the legs were fixed and the bed was huge now. easily big enough for me. "there we go... that was easy." i said smiling and making dash smile too.

"i'm glad to know you weren't completely lonely on you're trip..." said dash. "it's a good thing you found mystee and other ponies to keep you company."

"i'm glad mystee is here." i said. "i'm also glad she told you all she know so i wouldn't have too."

"yeah she told us everything." said dash.

"everything huh." i said.

"yes... everything." she said in a more serious tone. next thing i knew dash swiped her hoof at me and slapped me right across the face... and when it comes to hooves getting slapped and getting punched aren't so different... it actually hurt a bit.

"oh... everything." i said with a guilty voice.

"yes everything." said dash still a bit angry.

"i'm sorry baby...i...i just." i said trying to make this sound better but it was hard. i was quickly cut off by dash who just let out a deep sigh.

"it's alright... i'm over it... and i love you too much to stay mad at you." she said.

"thanks babe." i said. i was too afraid to tell her about the other times, so it'll be my dark little secret. "i love you too." i said hugging her gently so i don't crush her.

"to be honest i am a little jealous." said dash.

"about what?" i asked.

"i'm jealous that i didn't get to try out you're new body first." she said with a smile as used her hoof to start massaging my cock. she smiled and i smiled back. she leaned in and planted a huge kiss right on my lips. we swapped saliva for a little bit while she massaged my cock and i returned the favor by rubbing my hoof across her clit until she was soaking wet. it wasn't long either until i was nice and ready too.

she broke away from the kiss and crawled down my body until her head was at my cock. she grabbed it and started rubbing it some more. she licked the bottom of my shaft all the way up to the head and back down over and over again. i quietly used my magic to close and lock the door... i also soundproofed the room with an invisible barrier.

she licked up my shaft one last time then wrapped her lips around the tip of my dick. she started massaging my cock with her tongue as she slowly started to force my giant member down her throat. she made it halfway and she used her hooves to massage the bottom half while she slowly started sucking away at the top half. i let out a deep moan of pleasure.

she kept at it for a while and i felt like i was going to burst. she moved her hooves from the bottom half and started working her way even further down until she reached the bottom. i was actually a bit surprised. she started pumping up and down providing even more pleasure than before. the way her tongue caressed my shaft from inside of her mouth felt great. i let out another deep moan as i felt that i was getting close to bursting.

she kept it up for a little longer and let out a deep moan as i let my load out in her throat. she was able to take quite a bit but soon cum started bursting from her mouth and made a mess. when i was done i let out a sigh and she pulled my dick from her mouth and smiled. she crawled up to me and smiled.

she stopped when she was at my level but i pulled her up and planted her pussy right on my snout and started to lick away at the rim of her clit. she let out a little moan and i started digging deeper into the folds of her vagina. i kept up for a few minutes and she let out a high moan of pleasure as she burst and sprayed my face with jizz. i kept licking however and she moaned again.

i lapped away hungrily at her pussy and the taste of her in my mouth. she was oddly sweet. i kept lapping away and she was making cute little noises every couple of seconds. it wasn't long until she let out another high moan and shot her juices back into my face. i lifted her off my face and sat up. i placed her on my lap with my giant member between us.

"oh celestia... it's so big." she said.

"if you don't want to we can stop." i said.

"no please... i really want it." she said. with her permission now i lifted her up and laid back down. i lined my cock right up with her pussy and pressed against her. she let out a soft moan and quivered. i started pushing her down and soon the head of my cock pushed past her folds and slipped right in. she let out a little shriek and a moan of pleasure.

i stopped but she kept inching back and pushing it in further. i pushed her back some more and i was about halfway in. i expected that i wouldn't be able to go much further but to my surprise i was wrong. she inched back more and more until i was all the way in. i could tell though that i was pressing up against the walls of her uterus and pushing on them... but she didn't seem to mind. she seemed like she was in a bit of pain.

"dash are you alright..." i asked.

"yes i'm fine... please don't stop." she said. i looked over to see that the length might not be the problem but the girth. her pussy was spread really wide apart. i could even see a few trickles of blood.

"are you sure dash." i asked worryingly.

"yes... please i want this." she said with her eyes shut in a flurry of emotions and feelings. i didn't let her down and started lifting her up and down on top of my cock. she let out a few groans and shrieks of pleasure and leaned in and laid her head on my chest. she started holding tightly onto the fur on my chest and let out more moans and groans.

i stayed at a slow pace for a while. after about a few minutes dash let out a high pitched moan and came. seeing as she was getting a lot of pleasure from this i started to pick up the pace and began bucking harder and faster but only a little at a time. i kept at it for a while and every time dash came i could speed up a bit.

it was a while until i started feeling a pressure build up in me telling me that i was ready to burst. i rolled around and put dash on her back. i'm not sure why but i felt like i should. i picked up the pace and started bucking harder and faster. i saw that dashes eyes were rolling into the back of her head and her tongue was lolling out the side of her mouth. i still kept up my onslaught.

she let out a few moans here and there to signal that she had just came but other than that she only squeaked and grunted a bit. she also had a dumb looking smile on her face that made her look cute. i soon started rocking the bed with my constant bucking and thrusting.

i too was getting lost in my own sea of ecstasy. i lowered myself and laid on top of her as i bucked and thrashed away with little effort. i leaned over and gave dash a big kiss on the mouth. she managed to pull up and kiss me back before she dropped her head back onto the pillow. i could feel that i was close to bursting but not yet.

i kept at it for a few more minutes before i was really close at this point. dash was completely lost at this point and was in her own world. i let out a few grunts and groans as i grew closer. i bucked as hard and as fast as i could now. i had to hold dahs back from hitting her head on the head board. i let out a deep moan and i burst inside of dash.

i completely filled her to the brim and she started pouring out cum from between her legs. i kept blasting my load and forcing out as much as i could. after a while i finally stopped and collapsed next to rainbow. i pulled her on her side and hugged her with my cock still wedged in her pussy and a puddle of cum staining the bed.

"oh sweet celestia..." she said. "... that's probably the best sex we've ever had." she said with a smile. i smiled back.

"i love you dash." i said sliding her up and letting my cock slip out from between her legs. i also quickly used my magic to clean up the mess and tidy up the bed. i grabbed the covers and pulled them over us.

"i love you too crimson..." said dash burying her head into my chest and cuddling against me. i rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes getting ready for tomorrow and what we had planned. i slowly started to slip away into my dream land until i was fully asleep. i started dreaming about all the fun things i would do with my friends tomorrow. it wasn't long until the glaring light of the sun breaking through the windows shinned right on my face and woke me up.

i opened my eyes and looked down at dash who was still cuddling against me. i smiled and shook her a little to wake her up. she slowly woke up and looked around. when she saw me she smiled still half asleep.

"morning dash." i said.

"morning crimson." she replied. " what were you planning today." she asked as if she expected me to be leaving for the day.

"well i thought that i would have a nice breakfast with my family." i said as we both got out of bed. "then maybe you, me, and some other friends could hang out at the lake or something."

"that sounds like fun." said dash. "it is supposed to be pretty hot today... but i've got to clear the clouds over ponyville today." she said seeming upset.

"so..." i said. "you can go do that while i get the others and we can meet you by the lake." i said, she smiled and trotted over. she gave me a small kiss on the cheek... it seemed difficult at my height so i bent my head down and let her kiss me.

"i love it when you plan things out like that." she said. "makes me wonder why i don't think of them off the bat." said dash pondering off to the distance.

"don't worry about it... c'mon i'll make us breakfast." i said. dash just smiled and we both walked out of the room and over to the kitchen. i started using my magic to neatly float different ingredients over to me and started making food. i wasn't exactly sure what i was making but i knew that it would work... it just seemed to make sense.

i started using my magic to make all the ingredients float around me in a ring as i started putting them together and mixing stuff up. dash just looked at me with a smile on her face.

"what are you doing." she said laughing.

"cooking..." i said.

"alright... cooking what." she said.

"not exactly sure... but i'm guessing it'll be delicious." i said. she just started laughing again.

"your ridiculous." she said.

"no i'm crimson." i said cracking a shitty joke which seemed to make her laugh more.

"don't start that with me." she said getting over the laughter. i smiled and by the time the conversation was over i had finished whipping up the batter for what seemed like... pancakes... cool. i turned on the stovetop and greased a few pans.

i poured some of the batter into one pan and then the others. i waited a bit and then used my magic to flip the pancakes. there's not an easy way to describe it but i was like some kind of pancake creating machine. by the end of half an hour i had made a plate stacked up at least a foot with pancakes.

"so it's pancakes then..." dash said.

"i'm guessing so." i said looking at the plate of pancakes floating by me. dash giggled. "care to try one." i said as i set the table for the family.

"how about you try one first..." she said. "out of all of us you're the most durable." she said.

"durable?" i said with confidence and confusion. "it is a pretty good word to use... alright fine." i said. i used my magic and placed a pancake on the plate in front of me. i picked it up and ate the whole thing in one bite. i chewed it, then swallowed... it was fucking delicious.

"how is it..." asked dash.

"pretty good... it's got a vanilla taste to it but with butter and raspberries... it's pretty damn good." i said.

"what..." she said. "thats not possible, you didn't even know what you were doing." she reached over and grabbed a pancake. she tore off a piece and put it in her mouth. she chewed and swallowed. "holy crap!..." she said. "this is pretty damn good."

"told ya." i said. i smiled at rainbow who ate some more of the pancake. i heard a door open and close nearby. i waited for a moment and then scootaloo made her way into the kitchen rubbing one of her eyes and still half asleep. seeing her first the first time in a while made me smile.

"hey mom." said scootaloo. she used to be reluctant to see rainbow as her mother, but now shes just waltzing in here half awake and saying it. she also failed to notice my existence. i guess after all the time i was gone, dash was the only parent figure she could turn to.

"good morning scootaloo." said dash. "are you hungry... you're dad made pancakes."

"huh..." said scootaloo curiously. she rubbed her eyes again and could see now. she had grown quite a bit since i last saw her. with her vision cleared up she looked around and noticed me. a wave of shock hit her and she stared at me.

"hey scoots..." i said. "miss me." the expression on her face soon exploded into a radiant beacon of excitement and joy.

"DADDY!" she shouted. she jumped right over to me and i caught her and held her in my arms and she tried her best to hug me as tight as she could. "your home now..."

"well i was home yesterday..." i said. "why didn't you stay and greet me when i woke up."

"well i was with you while you were sleeping." she said.

"i know." i said smiling and rubbing my hoof on her head and messing up her hair. "you mother told me... how come you left." i asked.

"i got excited and wanted to tell my friends... we decided to make you something." she said. "wait right here." she said as she scampered off back to her room. it wasn't long before she came quickly trotting back in here with a big card in her mouth. i got down and tried to get closer to her level and grabbed the card. "me and the other cutie mark crusaders made this for you." she said.

i looked at the card which was absolutely caked in glitter. fortunately i could make out what was written on it. on the front was a crudely drawn picture of me that said "welcome home daddy." i opened it up and looked at the inside.

there weren't any words but there was a big picture still messily drawn and in crayon. it was a picture of me again but i was with dash and scootaloo and dawn, there were even pictures of twilight and the others, even mystee and black hoof as far as i could tell. i closed it up and turned it over to the back. on the back was written, "WE LOVE YOU DADDY". i smiled and placed the card down on the counter close by. scootaloo just watched me and smiled.

"thanks scootaloo." i said reaching down and picking her up. i pulled her up to me and hugged her. "i'll make sure to keep it in my study right on the desk."

"thanks dad." she said. i let her go and she hopped down on the floor. dash smiled and went to go wake up baby dawn. we all sat down at the table and ate our food. everypony loved the pancakes i made and in a few minutes they were almost gone. i had to help dawn eat her food. even though she was three she was still just a baby. she was a lot more talkative than i remember which made me laugh and smile a lot.

she could say a lot of words and she could speak slowly in small sentences but she was still learning. the longest cluster of words i heard her say was " i... love...daddy...pancakes.", not the exact words i was looking for but it was close enough and adorable as hell. she still managed to make a mess, but less of a mess than she used to.

after a while we finished all the pancakes and i cleaned up. realizing we don't have a babysitter for dawn we have to bring her with us... well i have to bring her with me. so as i cleaned scootaloo ran off to play with her friends and dash got baby dawn set up in a stroller and made a diaper bag ready for her.

dash walked over and gave me a peck on the cheek before leaving. she left and it was just me and dawn. i smiled at dawn and pushed the stroller to the door. i grabbed the diaper bag but it was small to me... so i threw it inside my regular saddlebags which i've only just realized seem to have grown with me... interesting.

so i set out with little dawn in her stroller smiling and laughing. i kept walking and i realized how incredibly ridiculous i must look. i was a huge hulking and strong god-like being with unlimited possibilities and strength... and i was pushing along my baby in a stroller. to make the matter worse the sunlight from above seemed to make my armour sparkle and soon form on my body... still the silvery grey from before.

i at least had the courtesy to take off the hood... but it didn't help. it wasn't long until i strolled into town to get twilight at her house. the faces i got... so help me god the faces i got from the ponies were the strangest faces i've ever seen in my life... i'm probably the last pony on the world that should be pushing a stroller with a three year old in it. this is ridiculous, but i did a good job of not getting embarrassed, or even caring what the other ponies though.

thankfully it wasn't long before i got to twilight's house. i walked over to the door and it was kinda... really...small. it knocked on it with my hoof and backed up so that the first thing twilight doesn't see is my armoured chest right in her face. the door clicked and swung open revealing a slightly tired twilight.

"oh..." she said. "hey crimson... are we going to the lake today." asked twilight

"yeah... you ready to get going." i asked. she levitated her saddlebags over and strapped them on.

"yep... lets get going." she said. we both walked out of the door. "wheres dash." she asked.

"clearing the skies." i said. i could actually see dash kicking at rainbows off in the distance near sweet apple acres. "and there's no babysitter so i've got dawn with me." i said. twilight looked over at the stroller and then at me and giggled. she walked over and grabbed the handle of the stroller.

"why don't i do you a favor and save you some dignity." she said. i smiled and we both started walking. twilight was using her magic to push the stroller along and baby dawn was sleeping inside.

"thanks for taking the stroller twi..." i said. " i looked a bit ridiculous."

"don't worry about it..." said twilight. we continued walking for a bit before twilight spoke up again. "oh i almost forgot..." she said. "princess celestia sent me this, this morning." she said using her magic to levitate a letter out of her bags. "she said it was for you and said that you should be the first person to read it."

i grabbed the letter floating net to me and held it. i opened it up and pulled out the paper from inside. the note was from celestia and it wasn't very long. the note read:

"Dear crimson blast, i would like to inform you that my younger cousin Nightflame has recently came to visit... it wasn't long ago that he had run away and left canterlot. i believe him to be somewhere close to ponyville. i would appreciate it that while you are busy with you're daily activities, you keep an eye out for him... he's very mischievous and often gets himself into trouble. he can be childish and unstable but he's a good kid. i'm certain you'll have no trouble overpowering him if you need to. and don't worry... you'll know what he looks like."

"damnit celestia..." i said softly to myself, but not soft enough to keep twilight from hearing.

"what is it..." she asked. i folded the note up and put it in my bag.

"apparently celestia's younger cousin has run away from canterlot and she thinks that he's somewhere close to ponyville... so she wants me to catch him and bring him back if i find him." i said.

"since when did celestia have a cousin..." twilight asked.

"i don't care..." i said. "at least i don't have to go hunt the kid down and tie him up." i said with some relief. "she said if i find him i should bring him back... so we'll see how that goes."

"so how long do you think it will be before you run into him." asked twilight.

"end of the day... max" i said. twilight chuckled. as soon as i focused back on where we're going i realized we were right at rarities house. i walked up and knocked on the door.

rarity came down and joined us. we made some small talk and then went to go get the others. it didn't take long. we already got most of the group before 11, the only ponies left were mystee and black hoof. mystee told me earlier that her family set up their campsite close to the lake already so that means we'll pick them up last... but where the fuck does black hoof live.

"so do any of you know were black hoof lives." i asked.

"i don't know..." said twilight.

"beats me." said applejack

" i think he has a house by the north end of the shopping district." said fluttershy. "but i'm not sure which one."

"thats not far." i said. "i can figure the rest out from there." i said and we kept walking. it wasn't long before we reached the north end of the shopping district which was luckily just one road... but it was long. i concentrated a bit and focused. soon the world around me went dark and off in the distance was a block of light. i focused on it and the world faded back. i now had my eyes set on a house down the street. i put a smile on my face and started walking, the others followed me. i kept my eyes on the house and in no time we were at the house. i walked over and smiled.

"this is the place." i said.

"now how the hell do ya'll know that." said applejack.

"acquired intuition." i said. i reached my hoof out and knocked on the door. we waited a few seconds before the knob on the door turned and swung open. and just as i thought black hoof was standing on the other side.

"oh hey guys." he said with a chipper smile. "what's up..."

"we're going to the lake... wanna come." i asked.

"yeah sure..." he said. "give me a sec to grab a towel." he quickly dashed off into his house and we waited for a few seconds before he ran outside with a towel over his shoulder. "alright... lets go." he said and we all headed out to the lake. we grabbed mystee and her family on the way there and soon we were at the lake. it was rather crowded however, but i guess that's to be expected when the temperature outside is something like 90 degrees.

we all took our spots in the sand and it wasn't long until dash joined us. we all got ready for a good day at the lake. dash put sunscreen on dawn and the others put sunscreen on themselves... except for me. after that we all had fun and splashed around in the water. we played, we laughed, and we bathed in the sun. it was pretty fun. and it felt better doing it with friends.

"hey crimson..." said black hoof swimming over in the deeper end of the water. i was with dash and dawn in the shallow end of the water so dawn could have some fun. fluttershy and rarity were bathing in the sun with jericco and mirella. the others were playing over in the distance with a ball they brought from home.

"what black hoof." i said.

"come over here." he shouted out. i rolled my eyes and started making my way over. i kept on swimming over to him and when i was close to him i noticed that we were near the center of the lake and it was really deep.

"what..." i asked.

"look down there." he said pointing down into the water. i looked down past the water and saw something shimmering on the bottom.

"you mean that shining thing down there... why do you care." i asked.

"you aren't curious to know what it is." he asked. "where in the middle of this lake and that thing must be way down there and we can see it."

"you right... it is quite odd." i said.

"you should go see what it is... and i know you can." he said.

"alright i'll go see what it is." i said. i dove down into the water and started swimming down. i felt a small shift in my body and suddenly i could breath under the water. i started swimming down with my wings and i kept my eyes fixed on the shining object. the shining and glimmering however soon started to change into glowing as i grew closer.

the murky water didn't help much and i couldn't see what it was past the darkness. it wasn't too long however until the lake bed came into view and i could see what was glowing it still wasn't clear what it was. i swam right up to the bed and saw the faint glowing from the sand. i reached down and pulled up the object. it was some kind of sapphire. it was glowing a faint blue. i wonder what this is?

before i could go swim back to shore the gem cracked and shattered into dust and vanished. the whole process took only a few seconds and startled me a bit. i sat there for a second in confusion. probably doesn't matter what that was, but i'll keep an eye out because i'm always particularly paranoid when i don't know what's happening.

i decided i was down here long enough and started swimming back up. after a few minutes of swimming i breached the surface and looked around. everypony was still doing whatever it was they were doing before. except for black hoof who was no longer around anymore. i looked around and couldn't see him. i swam over back to the beach. i noticed dash and dawn were out of the water now and dash was catching some sun and gossiping with the other mares. a few of them were blushing and it made me a bit nervous to know what they were talking about. i slowly walked over and when they noticed me they got quiet.

"hey crimson." said dash... "we were just talking about you."... great.

"have any of you girls seen black hoof go by..." i asked.

"yeah he just left for town..." said twilight.

"he was acting rather strange though..." said rarity.

"yeah like something got him spooked." applejack added. i looked off into the distance and noticed hoof marks leaving the sand... probably black hoof's. i'm sure he'll be fine... but my paranoia is telling me not to forget about it... so i'll lay low for now and check it out later.

"speaking of going into town..." said twilight. "it's about time for lunch... why don't we head into town and grab a bite to eat." the others nodded their heads and agreed, except for me.

"i'm not too hungry... why don't you girls go on ahead and get lunch... i think i'll just stay here and catch some sun until you get back." i said.

"you sure sugarcube." said applejack.

"yeah..." i said. "you go on... i'll be here when you get back."

"alright..." said dash as she and the others got up and started heading out. "we'll be back in an hour or so." she waved goodbye and i did too. once they were gone i laid down on the warm sand and rested my head on my hooves. i let the warmth of the sun cover my body and i closed my eyes.

i laid on the beach for a while trying to relax. i kept thinking about what i was going to do now that there were no missions or quests for me to do. i started to wonder what i would do to keep myself busy. i almost fell asleep thinking about that until the sound of laughter woke me up. it sounded close. i sat up and looked around to see who was here but there was nopony around. i was about to lay back down when i heard the laughter again.

i looked around and saw that it was coming from the forest by the lake. i looked closely and i saw some rustling in the bushed and a distinct pair of eyes... then they vanished. my overwhelming senses of paranoia and suspicion were killing me and i decided to investigate. i walked over past the sand and soon i was in the woods. these woods are outlying to the everfree forest so i should be careful incase there's something dangerous out here.

i walked around slowly for a few minutes checking the bushes and trees for anything suspicious. the trees eventually started to thin out a bit and the grass grew slightly taller. i took a few steps and i felt something coil around my back hoof. next thing i knew, it started pulling me... and pulling... and pulling. whatever it was, it obviously wasn't strong enough to pull me over.

i picked up my back hoof out of the grass and looked back at it. it had a rope tied around it. i followed the rope to see that it was also tied to a horribly bent tree trying it's best to pull me off the ground so it can stand up straight. i was caught in one of those old cartoony tree snares... it's actually kind of funny that i got caught in one... i'm sure it wouldn't have been funny if it worked... i'd probably get hurt really bad.

"aw what..." said a strange voice from close by. "it didn't work... weak." the voice sounded young... like a teenagers voice. i looked over to where the voice was coming from and i saw a figure step out of the bushes. just by the way he looked i already knew who it was.

it was a young stallion with jet black fur and a main that flowed in the wind, even though there was no wind. the colors of his mane resembled fire and it looked like his head and tail were on fire. he also had deep red eyes. but the most striking feature was the fact that he was an alicorn... he had large wings and a horn on top of his head... this must be celestia's cousin... i knew i would find him by the end of the day.

"you must be nightflame." i said in a friendly voice almost as if i wasn't caught in a deadly trap. "celestia's been looking for you."

"i was wondering when she would sick one of her guard dogs on me." he said.

"actually i'm not one of her guard dogs..." i said. i pulled my back hoof forward causing the tree to bend until it snapped in half with an ear shattering crack that caused bits of shrapnel to fly everywhere. "i'm more of a friend."

"well... you are too big to be a normal pony." he said walking up to me. "hell i think you might be taller than celestia..." he said with a smile.

"i am." i said. he started laughing.

"it's about damn time she had too look up to somepony for a change." he said in a very happy mood.

"so i take it you and celestia don't get along." i said undoing the rope around my hoof.

"well no shit..." he said. "so what the fuck are you... you're not an alicorn, that's for sure."

"i'm nothing..." i said. " but i am supposed to get you back to celestia... so lets go."

"yeah right..." he said. "there no way in hell i'm going back to that town of uptight ponies... to hell with 'em"

"celestia did give me permission to use necessary force if you resisted." i said getting more serious.

"yeah, sure she did." he said. i used my magic to quickly pull out the letter from celestia and hand it to him. he used his magic to levitate the note in front of his face and he started reading. i waited patiently for him to finish.

" Celestia you smart ass bitch..." he said crumpling up the letter and soon burning it with magic fire.

"so are you coming or not... this is the last time i ask you peacefully." i said.

"you're making quick work of this aren't you." he said.

"i just got back from a two year quest... i don't have time for this shit, now are you coming with me or not."

"i thought you weren't going to ask nicely anymore." said nightflame with a devilish smile. i let out a deep sigh and quickly used my magic to shoot up rods of energy from the ground and make a cage. nightflame seemed startled.

"alright time to go..." i said.

"not so fast asshole." he said. suddenly the entire area around me was soon caught in a flurry of flames and fire. i let out a yell of pain from the intense heat and i lost focus and the cage i made around nightflame lowered. in the confusion he ran away and i was left in the inferno. i let out a shout and in a burst of energy i snuffed out almost all the fire. the forest around me was flaming and turned to ash. i looked at myself and saw i was horribly burnt... but i was rapidly healing.

i looked over quickly and i could see him running away. i quickly started to run after him. i ran quickly and as fast as i could but he was pretty fast. i could keep on his tail but i couldn't catch up to him. we ran through the forest and i dodged trees and bushes left and right still trying to catch him. soon enough he broke through the clearing into ponyville and i did soon after.

he turned right and started running down the street bolting past ponies and market stalls. i tried to fly up into the air and fly him down but the fire from before had burned off some of the feathers on my wings which made it hard to fly. i started to wonder why he wasn't flying away and easily getting away. i ran as fast as i could and he looked back at me with a smile and kept running... he was enjoying this.

we both ran down the street dodging obstacles and ponies left and right. i didn't want to use my magic to catch him fearing that he would blast more fire at me and burn the town in the process... so i have to handle this gently.

"catch me if you can asshole..." he said.

"get back here." i yelled out in rage. i chased after him for a while and we started nearing the south end of the market towards the south exit of ponyville. soon enough we ran into the intersection of the two streets. he looked back and stuck his tongue out at me. i shoved my way past ponies and carts. i lost sight of him but i could hear a loud thwack, like the piercing of skin and then a scream of pain. fearing the worst i ran even faster and when i was free of the crowd i could see what had happened.

i saw nightflame writhing in pain on the ground holding his back hoof which had a knife sticking clean through it. i looked over to see two stallions. one was wearing black leather armour and hood. he had an array of knives and daggers lining his armour. the knives matched the one in nightflames leg. the other was a stallion with dragonscale armour with a large sword by his side. sticking from the top of the dragon skull helmet was a horn suggesting he was a unicorn.

"ghaa... fucking shit." said nightflame still on the ground. for his age, he was taking being stabbed in the leg pretty well.

"what the hell is wrong with you..." i said yelling at the two stallions over by the southern entrance. the pony with the leather armour grabbed another knife and threw it. it whirled through the air and stabbed me right in the neck severing my jugular vein. it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should. i started bleeding out everywhere.

i let out a shout of anger and soon i was adorned with my armour and gear. the knife in my neck was destroyed and the wound was healed in seconds. i stood there glaring back at the two ponies with anger in my eyes. the pony threw yet another knife at me but it shattered and fell to pieces on the ground before it could even touch me.

"holy, shit..." said the pony in the dragonscale armour. i recognized the voice. " crimson blast you magnificent bastard... it's about time you got you're ass back home." said the pony walking towards me. i started walking forward too completely forgetting about nightflame who was on the ground most likely bleeding out... he'll be fine.

"who are you..." i asked in a friendly voice once again.

"you bastard i can't believe you don't remember me." he said as we finally caught up to each other. his horn started glowing and he lifted off his helmet with magic... holy mother fucking shit.

"no fucking way..." i said. "thunder rush you bastard." i said giving him a punch on the arm. it was a playful punch but when he let out a grunt of pain and tried to smile it off i could tell i was a bit too strong... i still don't know my own strength. "you haven't changed much over two years."

"yeah... you've...uh... you've... i like what you've done with you're mane." he said jokingly with a smile still trying to hide his pain.

"do you know this giant." said the other pony he was with as he walked over.

"yeah... this is crimson blast... an old friend of mine." replied thunder. "crimson this is my...uh... friend, red wing." as he introduced the other pony, he took off his hood and i could see his face. he looked much like how i used to. he had dark red fur and long black tail and mane. he had deep blue eyes... he was the only pony i've ever met to make blue eyes look sad and spiteful all together.

"it's nice to meet you." i said sticking out my hoof to shake his. he looked at my hoof and turned me down.

"i don't trust you." he said acting indifferent to my gesture.

"c'mon red wing... what's the deal." said derek.

"it took a knife to the neck and lived..." he said. "

"it?..." i said.

"yes, 'IT'..." he said. "it's obvious you're no pony..." he looked around and spotted the clock tower across the river and squinted to see the time. "it's getting late... i'll be at the inn..." he said looking over to thunder. "you'll find me there." and he quickly took off towards the town inn.

"he's a real charmer." i said.

"yeah he gets real serious usually... but he knows how to lighten up, just chooses not to." said derek. before i said anything else i heard a yell of pain from behind me. i looked back to see nightflame grabbing hold of the knife in his leg... i had forgot about him.

"hey are you alright." i asked kightflame as me and derek walked over to make sure he wasn't dying. he didn't say anything. he held onto the knife and pulled it clean out. he yelled and a spray of blood painted the ground near us. he then easily got back on all fours... resilient for a kid.

"what the fuck dude..." he said in anger. "did you really have to fucking stab me with a knife."

"no that was red wing..." said derek with a lot of sarcasm.

"fuck you, all the same..." said nightflame. "i'm not going back to canterlot... and no matter how much you want to believe it not even celestia can order me back... she has no real power over me."

"that may be so..." i said. "but she has some power over me... and i intend to carry out her orders... so you can just come with me or i could chase you again until you get tired."

"hey crimson... i don't mean to butt in on you're moment here but who is this kid... and why is he an alicorn." asked derek.

"derek..." i said. "this is nightflame. he's celestia's cousin and she wants me to bring him back to canterlot."

"which isn't going to happen." he said lifting up his wings and flying into the air slowly.

"i'll explain later." i said spreading my now fully healed wings and flying straight up after him. he started flying away and curved and banked through the town and down alleyways but i stayed right behind him. his wound was obviously slowing him down but it wasn't bleeding as bad as it should be. that guy, red wind, must have some killer aim if he snagged nightflame like that without cutting any major veins or arteries.

so i chased him for a long time. i know that i promised dash and the others that i would be at the lake when they got back but i'm already certain they know what's going on... in fact, i think i passed by them when i was running after nightflame. i couldn't tell because of the blur of ponies and buildings but i think i did catch a few familiar faces... or not, but if they didn't know then, they surely know now.

i kept after nightflame not catching him but staying right on his tail. he curved and wound through buildings and trees trying to lose me but i stayed right on him. unlike him i'm not going to get tired anytime soon, even if he is an alicorn he's still young, and still a pony. i have been chasing him for close to an hour now and i was starting to notice he was getting tired.

he was sweating as i could feel it blowing back from him and hitting me. he was also getting sloppy. he started lightly sinking and making bad turns and losing all elaboration in his attempt to shake me. soon enough he was just flying around without the obstacles. he was still pretty fast though... but after the next twenty minutes, that stopped.

he was breathing heavily and sweating bullets. his speed had reduced to something like 20 mph instead of the ridiculous speeds we were at before. i just floated right next to him waiting for him to get tired and stop. and so he slowly started to decrease in speed from there on. he kept trying to shake me in a diluted attempt to get away. soon enough he was merely inching forward high above one of the streets. i floated right next to him perfectly fine and still full of energy.

"ready to stop now." i said.

"the only way you're dragging me back to celestia is to haul my lifeless corpse there." he said.

"i wouldn't say lifeless... but if you keep this up you're body will go into catatonic shock and you'll pass out for the next several hours... plenty of time to get you back." i said. he ignored me and just kept flying trying to use more energy and go faster only speeding up the time he had before he collapsed from fatigue.

he really seemed like he didn't want to go back to canterlot. it was also incredibly obvious that he wasn't very happy with celestia. i could only wonder what happened between them. thinking of celestia made me start to see all the things she had done for me... if you think about it, she's been the same as a mother to me while i've been in ponyville. i don't hate her but she does get a bit annoying from time to time.

the time she sent me to the dungeon was like grounding me. and then i ran away in anger. then the time we fought, it was like a heated mother and son fight that happens every now and then... then we made up and time went on. she had been kind and caring to me for a while. it's kind of scarry... i don't even see her that much... plus she was the only one who remembered my birthday. i've been here five years... technically, and i've only had celestia remember my birthday that one time that i was cast out for... well you know. speaking of birthdays, last time i checked the calander (yesterday) it was something like early june... think the 5th... my birthday's on the 13th.

as i pondered off to my own thoughts something snapped me back to reality. i looked over to see nightflame still struggling to fly forward. his wings must be killing him. he was breathing heavily and sweating up a storm. he's like a thundering rain cloud.

"hey..." i said. "so what's you're problem with celestia." i asked.

"what..." he said.

"it's obvious that you have something against celestia... did you two fight or something."

"yeah sort of." he said still tired. this was the first time he didn't talk to me with an attitude. i guess the fatigue must be getting to him.

"can you tell me what happened." i asked.

"none of... you're business." he stuttered... oh well, easy come easy go. i was about to speak up but before i could i could see his eyes close shut and his wings go limp. and soon he started falling. parts of me wanted to catch him and other parts wanted me to let him fall for being a brat... it wouldn't kill him, were only like 30 feet from the ground and he's an alicorn. with the internal conflict raging inside of me i didn't do anything and he fell. it didn't take him long before he reached the ground and a shriek came from the ground.

"EEP" said somepony on the ground. she cry snapped me back to reality and i quickly hovered down and landed on the ground. i looked around and there weren't any ponies on this street... it wasn't even a street it was a dirt road. "ahhh, get him off, get him off." said a familiar voice. i looked at nightflame and saw that he had landed right on fluttershy who was trying to push the big alicorn off of her. now that i see it, this is the road to her house after all.

"are you alright fluttershy." i asked running over to help.

"please, please, please get him off... he's crushing me" whined fluttershy. she was shaking violently. she must be scared. i couldn't blame her, having a large alicorn fall on you as you walk home is quite startling. and because of fluttershy's timid and, well... shy nature, this must be worse for her. she was on her stomach trying to push the large stallion off of her but she isn't exactly the strongest.

as i ran over to help her i saw that she could be hurt badly. her nose was bleeding and she had a few scrapes and cuts on her face. when he fell on her she must have hit her face on the ground and maybe broken her snout. i also saw that one of her wings was poking out from under nightflame and it laid there limply, it might have snapped or broken from the impact... maybe the same for the other wings and even some of her ribs... the fact she was moving and kicking her feet to get up made it certain that nothing in her vertebral column broke or slid out of place paralyzing her... that would suck.

"please get him off..." said fluttershy. "it hurts, please..." i quickly dug my hooves under nightflame and threw him off of her with ease. with him off of her she curled up into a ball and started weeping. i looked at her but one thing that caught my eye was a small pool of blood on the ground. i quickly followed the pool to fluttershy. her light yellow coat had a red stain on it and a trail leading to her side. i looked to see that she was wearing saddlebags, which were covering the wound.

"fluttershy are you alright." i asked... " you're bleeding, do you feel light headed." she didn't respond but whimpered in pain. i looked to see what was causing her to bleed. i undid the saddlebags and started to lift the one hiding the wound. as i raised it up it seemed to be caught on her. i looked under to see three metal prongs stabbing through the bag into her side. luckily it was through the right side so it didn't puncture her spleen and hopefully the prongs haven't dug deep enough to rupture the lining of her stomach.

i opened the top of her saddlebag and reached in and checked around until i found something that was being held in place. i shook it a little and in turn it caused the prongs to shake a little which wade fluttershy squeal.

"i'm sorry fluttershy" i said. "but this is going to hurt... but i promise i'll make you better." she just whimpered and tears continued to flow from her eyes and down her face. "are you ready?" i asked. she just moaned and nodded a bit. i held onto the object tightly and quickly pulled on it. but it didn't come all the way out. she let out a cry of pain and i stuck my hoof out to keep her quiet. i stuck it towards her mouth and she bit down on it. she closed her eyes tightly and started crying loosening her grip on my arm.

i checked the wound and i saw that it was bleeding even more now. i looked at the prongs and saw i hadn't pulled out much. by the feel of the object inside and the prongs i was guessing she got stabbed with a gardening rake... one of the small ones. i also noticed that the prongs were bent inward... but not naturally. they must have bent on the accident... and even more disturbing was that i just tried to pull them out.

since their curved instead of pulling them out the curve of the prongs probably pushed up against the inside of fluttershy, which might have made this worse. and if these are bent inward i have reason to believe they were crushing 'inside' of here making internal damage worse and probably breaking a few ribs in the process.

"i'm sorry fluttershy... just bare with me." i said. "you're going to be fine." she just cried and screamed some more. it hurt me to say but i have to take this slowly now and pull it out with the curve. "alright ready..." i said. she cried further. "just bite down on my arm but try not to move so much." i said. she had already started biting down hard on my arm. i started slowly pulling the rake going with the curve and fluttershy started screaming from the pain. i wanted her to pass out from the pain or blood loss, or something... just so she didn't have to suffer through this... and i didn't have the equipment to sedate her... or the heart to knock her out.

"wha-what... what's going on." said a voice behind me... it was nightflame who was getting up and rubbing his head. he seemed completely fine. he recovered quickly. he seemed confused until he looked over at me and fluttershy both covered in blood and her screaming. i'm not exactly sure there's even an emotion to describe the look on his face. "w-what the fuck are you doing." he said running over seeming angered now than whatever he was feeling before. he looked like he was going to attack me so i stopped him by grabbing his legs with energy.

"calm down nightflame... this isn't helping." i said.

"you let her go you fucking sicko." he said yelling in rage. "don't you hurt her." with his yelling and fluttershy's i lost it and snapped at him.

"I'M NOT HURTING HER I'M SAVING HER LIFE..." i yelled. everything in the world seemed to go still. they both became silent and it was like there was absolutely nothing happening. no bird's chirping, no trees blowing in the breeze... nothing, only silence. "when you collapsed you fell on her and injured her... now shut the fuck up... sit down... and quit being a bitch." i said. he seemed to obey every order. he sat down and stayed silent. i let him go. "alright fluttershy..." i said turning back to her. "we're almost done... then i can make the pain stop." i said trying to comfort her... but nothing seemed to be helping. she started hyperventilating and biting on my arm again. "ready." i asked.

she whimpered a bit and nodded. i grabbed the rake and started pulling it out some more slowly. she started screaming and crying once more and she bit down hard enough on my arm to break the skin. out of the corner of my eye i could see nightflame covering his ears and trying to drown out her screams. i could tell he wanted to get up and punch me, or help, or do something, but after i yelled at him like that he was too afraid to. but i never thought that kid would have such heart.

i pulled out some more and suddenly the rake came lose and it was finally out. i let fluttershy scream and bite into my hoof some more until she calmed down and the pain settled. i let my hoof go and she started whimpering and crying again. my hoof was covered in saliva and there was a bruised and bleeding bite mark on it, but i didn't pay much attention to it.

" there..." i said. "its over now i can heal it." i said putting both of my hooves to the wound. i hadn't tried healing others before but there wasn't much of a choice now. that rake was dug far too deep and most certainly had torn through her stomach and other organs. this was the only option. i could tell her heart rate was spiking and she was getting dizzy.

i concentrated my energy and my hooves started to glow a bright silvery white along with the rest of my body. the light from my hooves started floating over to her wound and started covering it in light. it didn't stop there however. it spread over to her hind leg and both of her wings and up to the cuts and scrapes on her face and broken snout. the blood from the ground started flowing back into her and i could tell she was going to be fine. little did i know that my healing came with a catch.

as the light washed over her body i heard a snap and waves of pain washed over my body as my left wing went limp and fell to my side. i heard a bone crunching snap and more pain passed over me and i let out a cry of pain. the lower bridge of my other wing was broken now. just in time for both of fluttershy's wings to heal and flutter a bit then stick to her side... this can't be good. it seems that instead of healing her i've started to just transfer the damage instead... crap.

before i could conclude further i felt a break in both the uper and lower parts of my back hoof and it started to sting in pain and continued to burn because i was kneeling on it to be at fluttershy's level. next a couple little scraped and cuts started sketching their way across my face. then there was a crunch and my snout broke. i started bleeding from the nose and i grunted in pain again. the only thing left was the stab wound.

the wound started to heal and close up from the inside out while on my side the wound started forming. parts of my side and skin started wearing away slowly in the shape of her wound. with my size it wasn't as big of a wound but still... it hurt. i could feel it slowly digging into my side and tunneling through my skin. i could feel it breach the skin and start piercing my stomach and other organs. it was like the rake was slowly being driven into me. i could also feel the force of the tug when i tried taking the rake out the first time and probably tore some of the tissue inside of fluttershy. soon enough the wounds fluttershy had sustained were gone and now onto me. the light faded and i fell to the ground in pain.

while my body was already starting to rapidly heal itself i was already coughing up blood splattering it onto the ground. i could feel my body start to get better and i stopped coughing up blood as my stomach healed itself. i could feel my energy start to return but i stopped short and i was feeling a bit tired but i was still healing. the wounds healed but not enough. without all my natural energy the wounds healed enough but stopped short. i could stretch and flex my wings but once again flying is not an option... come to think of it, i almost always break my wings, or there's just something else preventing me from flying.

i got up and stood on all fours. fluttershy laid on the ground with a look of shock spread over her face. she probably doesn't understand what just happened. i didn't really know either. from what i can tell i did heal her or something but it took a great deal of energy. my leg was still stinging and i had to limp. and my head was pounding from the broken snout. the stab wounds healed the fastest. since they were the most sever my body healed them first. there were three small scars from the wounds though hiding under my fur.

"are you alright..." i asked fluttershy. i limped over and laid got down next to her. she just shook her head and timidly smiled.

"yes..." she said. "i'm fine."

"i'm proud of you." i said. "you were very strong... i'm sorry this happened... after all it is partially my fault for not sensing you below us... and also for letting that stallion fall instead of catching him." speaking of the other stallion... i looked back to see how nightflame was doing. to my surprise he had fallen unconscious again. i'm not sure if he passed out from the sight of the blood and the screaming, or if it was because he was still in an energy debt to his body and collapsed from fatigue... i'll let him keep his dignity and just say it was the second one.

"what happened?" asked fluttershy. "why were you in pain..."

"well i guess that i didn't exactly heal you..." i explained. "it was more like i transferred the damage... again i'm sorry fluttershy."

"it's not you're fault..." she said. "even if it was you shouldn't feel sorry... besides you saved me." she said with an upbeat tone. she flung herself over and hugged me. i put my hoof around her and smiled. she was making me start to feel better... and by better i mean 'not as guilty'."

"thanks fluttershy..." i said. "why don't i bring you back to you're house... it's getting late and you must be tired after that." i said. i looked up to the sky and it was a beautiful shade of red and purple.

"that would be nice." she said. "i am very tired." i smiled and stood up. she went to stand up but i scooped her up with my wings. she seemed a bit startled but when she saw that she was being cradled in my wings she smiled. it did sting a bit because my wings weren't fully healed but it wasn't much trouble. i almost started walking away when i remembered nightflame. i used my magic to pick him up and carry him over and throw him over my back. the weight made me press down on my injured back hoof and it almost buckled out which would have made me fall, but i caught myself.

i started limping my way down the road and after a little bit i came into view of fluttershy's house. i limped my way past her garden and over the bridge above the creek. i walked over to her house and when we we're in front of her door i stopped. i set her down and she smiled and opened the door.

"thank you crimson..." she said with a smile.

"no problem fluttershy." i replied. she looked past me at nightflame who was draped over my back.

"uhm... is he going to be alright." asked fluttershy with a bit of tangent guilt in her voice. the question seemed to confuse me a bit but i didn't show it.

"yeah..." i said. "he's just passed out from pushing himself too much."

"who is he?" she asked.

"this is nightflame..." i said. "he's an alicorn if you haven't guessed yet... infact he's celestia's younger cousin... she asked me to find him and bring him to canterlot."

"you have to leave again." said fluttershy with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"don't worry... it'll literally take me a second to teleport there." i said. she seemed to brighten up a bit.

"alright... but be careful." she said.

"don't worry i will." i said/ with that i concentrated on canterlot and in a flash, i was gone. there was a bright light for only a second and i managed to safely transport me and nightflame to canterlot without any unforseen consequences. but there were a few tweaks that needed to be made. i ended up teleporting a foot off the ground and when i fell the impact on my back hoof almost caused it to buckle out again but i caught myself once more.

i looked around and i was at the castle gate. it was getting dark and the sun was almost set. i looked over to see the gate guards staring at me in surprise, shock, confusion, interest... all those things. i limped over and talked to one of the guards.

"i have to speak with celestia." i said.

"uhm... sure..." said the guard. he was a bit hesitant and didn't take his eyes off me. the gate was already open but i still asked to keep out of trouble with the guards... or at least keep them from annoying me.

"thanks." i said with a bright smile as i walked... or limped, past them and into the front courtyard. i passed by the hedges and bush garden sculptures. i kept on the path to the staircase to the main lobby of the palace. i walked up and started making my way up the stairs. the process of scaling stairs was difficult with only the full use of three of you're legs... honestly it's much easier to have a leg injury with only two legs to stand on... not four.

as i slowly made my way up the stairs the veranda of light was shortening as the sun set behind the mountains behind the city. the line of nightly darkness was slowly catching up to me. i kept walking and it slowly passed over me as i got to the final step. the sun was actually setting faster than i could scale a staircase. i walked into the main lobby and i was greeted by decorative banners and other ornaments and designs... and more freaking stairs.

there was another set of stairs before i could get to the throne room. you know what... fuck stairs. i quickly teleported from the bottom of the stairs to the top. i smiled at my own personal victory and went on to the throne room doors. i walked up to them and looked at them. they were well decorated and ornate. i didn't know if i should just walk in. i've never actually walked into this room formally... the only time i've entered this room was when i was staying here after getting my powers and i didn't even use this door... just flew around and entered from the other rooms... and the other times i've either been dragged, teleported, or barged into here... how does the princess put up with me.

not knowing what to do i just decided to knock. i knocked on the door and it echoed a short distance over the castle. i waited a bit and nothing happened so i knocked again... shouldn't there be guards on duty or something. i was about to knock again until the doors glowed with a golden yellow aura and slowly swung open. i looked in to see celestia in the room standing by the stained glass windows and looking over at me. she wasn't wearing her jewelry and her crown... and she looked tired, it was a new and interesting look for her.

"hello crimson..." she said with a smile. she let out a yawn and blushed a bit. she must be tired... well it is almost night... and she is the princess of the sun, so it makes sense if she goes to sleep when the sun does. "looks like you've found my cousin nightflame... you made quick work of that... i hope he wasn't much trouble." she said. i started walking over and i smiled.

"no... finding him was an accident... he led me through the town for a bit... i met an old friend... then we flew around until he got so tired that he collapsed." i said with a smile and sarcasm... lots of sarcasm. the princess just giggled a bit.

"have you made it a plan to sugarcoat all of you're stories." she said.

"no... but it's a good idea." i said. she giggled again.

"you don't have to sugarcoat the story for... so what really happened." she asked.

"well i was walking through the woods from the lake and he tried catching me in a tree snare which probably would have really hurt anypony else... then he blasted me with fire and covered me in second degree burns which took a good half hour to heal." i said.

"sounds like something he would do." said the princess. "thats his escape from trouble... blasting it with fire... please continue." she said.

"well i did chase him for about 10 minutes until he was snared in the leg by a knife thrown by some kind of assassin. the assassin was actually with my friend derek who is back in town. we talked and then nightflame got mad and tried flying away. i promised derek i would see him later and its getting late now."

"oh... derek is back is he..." she said.

"yeah..." i replied. "he was with some stallion in dark leather armour named red wing... that guy actually had some scary accuracy with throwing knives." i said.

"alright... so what happened next?" she asked.

"right... well next i chased after him." i said. " i chased him for a good hour and a half before he passed out from fatigue and fell thirty feet and landed on my friend fluttershy. the fall caused fluttershy to take some serious damage including being stabbed by a small gardening rake she had in her bag... i managed to pull it out and heal her but he had sprung back to life only to get violent and defensive of fluttershy... with the rake out of fluttershy's side i used my magic to somehow transfer the damage from her... to me, which drained my energy... i looked back to see nightflame was passed out again and i brought fluttershy home..." i finished finally taking deep breaths but trying to hide it.

"and now you're here..." said celestia. i had honestly tried to rush the story as much as i could. i'm sure she got it though.

"yeah..." i said. "basically you're cousin distracted me from my friends who i haven't been with in two years... technically, burned me, had me running all around town, then almost killed one of my friends... i was supposed to be relaxing at the lake."

"i'm sorry for you're day being ruined and i thank you greatly for returning him to canterlot..." said celestia.

"you know... all day this kid has been angry and upset, most of it was aimed at me because i was chasing him but it all seemed to be deeply rooted towards you princess." i said.

"and what does that mean." she said becoming more intimidating... maybe if she didn't have to look up at me she would be scary but not in my case.

"his hatred for you is pointless... like when a son and mother fight and end up hating and ignoring each other..." i said. "i would like to know why he ran away in the first place before i return him."

"you were always curious." she said lightening up and smiling. "well i guess after the trouble he put you through you deserve some answers." she turned and started walking down the hall. "come... we can go somewhere where we can talk." she said. i started following her close behind. we started walking through the hall leading out of the throne room and we stopped at a large door.

she opened it up and walked in. i quickly followed and she closed the door behind me. the room was well lit by small orbs of light floating above strange obelisks around the room... they were like magic torches. celestia used her magic and picked up nightflame off my back. she floated him over to a pile of pillows in the corner and laid him down. she walked over to a large cushion on the floor and sat down. there was a second cushion across from her. i walked over and took a seat.

i looked around the room quickly and tried to see where we we're. there were desks and tables placed around the circular room. there was one large tall window overlooking outside. there were bookshelves LINING the walls. i thought twilight had a lot of books but this was one impressive array. there was a telescope next to the window which i just noticed opened up into a balcony. and there was a nice fireplace behind celestia with a strong roaring fire in it. this was a very strange room. it didn't even make sense in relation to our location. technically that window should peer into the throne room.

"princess..." i said. "where are we."

"in my private study..." she said levitating a quill and a note over to her. "it's the top room of the palace tower." she said... my head hurt from confusion. but i stopped thinking so hard and just figured there was some kind of magic behind it.

"how is that possible... the room we walked into was next to the throne room." i said.

"i put a magical charm on the doorway." she said. "with every other pony that walks through the doorway we did it just leads to the library... but with my magical charm when i walk through the doorway it brings me here... i can also entrust other ponies to be in here... like you and nightflame." she said. "infact there were few other ponies that have ever been in here... only three actually my sister, starswirl the bearded, and you're friend twilight."

"impressive." i said. i looked over to see she was still writing a note or something. the fact that we're on the tower top made more sense. "uhm celestia... what are you writing." i asked.

"a note to you're friends." she said with a smile. "... i'm letting them know that you'll be spending the night in the palace."...wait... spending the night. i don't think i ever agreed to that. what the hell does the princess want that is going to require me to spend th-... oh god i hope it's not what i think it is.

"do i have much of a choice." i said.

"well i'm not giving you a choice... but i don't think it matters to you." she said. "i'm sure you could teleport out of here like you did to get here... so technically you can leave whenever you want... but i'm making you stay" she said as she rolled up the note and tied it together with red ribbon. she tossed it up and it teleported to my friends in a burst of green fire and a flash.

"alright... that makes sense... i guess." i said. she giggled a bit.

"well we do have a lot to talk about... but first we should begin with why i had you collect nightflame for me." she said. that was a very cynical use of the word 'collect'. i looked back to see nightflame but he wasn't there anymore.

"where did nightflame go?" i asked.

"don't worry..." said the princess. "i teleported him into his bed while you were looking around the room."... great now we're alone. "so what do you want to know?" she asked.

"well there must be a reason why he ran away..." i said. "and i have a feeling you know of it."

"yes, well as you know he is angry at me." she said. "well his father, my uncle, sent him here to learn how to be proper and get him ready for the throne... he thought that i would be best suited for this job"

"alright... so what next." i said.

"well nightflame isn't a proper kind of pony..." she said.

"and that's where the problem set in." i said.

"precisely..." she said. "i've been trying to teach him how to be civilized and proper like his father wants but nothing worked... after a few months he had started to build up a temper and started acting out because of it... and i'm ashamed to admit this but... i had lost it and snapped at him... then he ran away." she said.

the feeling of remorse greyed the air in the room and i felt a bit sorry for her. i can't blame either of them though. it wasn't really any ponies fault that this happened. though for celestia to snap at somepony they must have really gotten on her nerves.

"after he ran away i didn't care too much... i was angry at him." she continued. "but i knew that my uncle wouldn't be happy with me and i was his responsibility so i had to get him back... so i made the mistake of sending you after him. i probably should have gone after him myself, and i feel bad about the trouble you he caused you... this is all my fault for pushing him too hard."

"no it's not." i said speaking out. "it's nopony's fault. you teaching nightflame was destined to go wrong. it just never would have worked, like trying to get the same sides of a magnet to stick together. and i got caught in the crossfire... so what, that part is my fault. i know that you try and rely on me... but i wasn't being smart about catching him..." celestia looked over at me and smiled.

"thank you crimson... that really helped lift my spirit." she said.

"i think that the first thing you do in the morning is apologize to nightflame and send him back home where he belongs"

"your right... i'll take note of that, thank you again." she said.

"no problem." i replied with a friendly smile. the princess grabbed her quill and another note and started writing again. if i had to guess it was a letter to her uncle or something relating to the relevant matter. so now that was over... what exactly are we supposed to do for the rest of the night. "so uhm celestia..." i said. "explain why you thought that would take all night." i asked.

"oh no i never planned for us to talk about that for the rest of the night..." she said. "we've got other things to talk about."

"like... like what." i said starting to sweat a bit.

"well for one i heard you ran into martukus in the blackmarsh gauntlet." she said. i let out a brief sigh of relief. how does she know martukus... though i'm not entirely surprised.

"well yes..." i said. " he was mad at me for the most part mostly because i accidentally ruined some plan of his by unknowingly blowing up the portal at the end of the gauntlet... but i think he was mad because i got through very easily..."

"mmm... he came and saw me soon after..." she started to smile and giggle a bit. "it was the first time i've seen him in hundreds of years... he mentioned you... all be it mostly negative, there were some positive things in there." she said.

"like what." i asked.

"well he called you an incompetent genius... and he said you were the luckiest bastard alive." she said thinking back.

"such wonderful compliments..." i said with sarcasm.

"well i never said they were compliments... those were the most positive things he said about you." she said.

"great... well that guy was an asshole too... i felt bad about ruining his plan on accident but i think i'll get over it now." i said. she giggled a bit. "did he say if he had other plans... because he mentioned a way to jump worlds which interested me." i said.

"i could see how it would..." she said. "he said he would remain in equestria but didn't say what he was doing... and i'm almost certain he's taken to his pony form"

"dammit." i said. celestia seemed surprised. "that means i'm probably going to run into him somehow..."

"how do you know that." she asked smiling again.

"i've dealt with enough of this shit to know that when bad things could happen, they will, and that whenever i meet ponies i want to avoid they end up at every place i go to... my life is a continuous strain of cliches, bad luck, and trouble."

"well it's not easy being what you are..." said celestia. "when twilight told me about what you're friend had told her i almost didn't believe it. at the time i had stopped tracking you. then you disappeared for two years and i couldn't find you... so i assumed you were dead." she said.

"and what happened when i came back." i asked.

"that day was actually a world tragedy." she said.

"thanks..." i replied.

"oh i'm sorry..." she said. "it wasn't an insult... twilight told you about the portal right."

"yeah about the space time continuum and how i was spit into a different time." i said.

"well you see when you went into the portal, you didn't disappear for two years... you simply didn't exist for two years." said celestia, that made my eyes widen a bit. "your spirit and body weren't part of the space time continuum of this dimension so you didn't exist... and you never can exist there... which prevents you from traveling back in time for that period of time."

"alright... and about the world disaster thing." i asked.

"well you see when you were put back into this dimension and this plane of space and time you cause a dimensional shock wave... because you have such incredible power the universe couldn't handle it all. when you incredible mass of power entered the world it was like a large rock breaking the stillness of a pond, causing ripples of unstable raw energy which actually prevented the use of all magic for three days."

"thats a lot to take in..." i said. yet i seem to just be brushing this off. but then again with the shit i've been through this isn't so hard to swallow. "but when i came back i didn't notice a shock wave... and it's been less than three days since i came back." i said.

"it's actually been months since this happened." said celestia.

"damnit celestia." i said. "how much fucking time has passed..." i said. she just laughed.

"i can explain." she said. "you weren't actually inside the portal for two years exactly... it was less." she said. i was more confused now. "the physical shock was the magical vail breaking which signaled you're return... the magical vail is intertwined with the fabric of time... but not space. when you left you're energy traveled instantly through this world and broke the vail."

"alright... this is starting to make more sense... i guess." i said.

"your energy had to travel here first to make it possible for our dimension to contain you. once you're energy finally settled into the vail the portal could spit out you're physical form to contain the energy. so you were inside the portal for a year and a half and then it took the other half of the year to actually bring you into this world." said celestia.

"so where was i when i was being teleported."

"that would have been the void outside of the planes of space and time. luckily for you and possibly others, the void has no laws of time and space and is a direct route that fires you're energy off into one part of time and the physical part of you into a later time. because you have so much power it took longer for you to get here." she said finally finishing.

"well then..." i said. we remained silent for a few seconds and i spoke up again. "i have one last question then we can move on... what is the magical vail." i asked.

"the magical vail is impossible to describe... it's the one thing that allows us to use magic... when you broke the vail, everything with some kind of connection to the vail was cut off. even the most powerful magic." she said.

"how do you know this stuff." i asked.

"i've been around for hundreds of thousands of years." she said. "i've learned everything there is to know and i spend my off time reading and observing everything that happens both inside and outside of equestria."

"it must get lonely here." i said. "for thousands of years..."

"it does." she said letting out a deep sigh and relaxing a bit. "it would be unbecoming of me to make small talk with my guards and my subjects in canterlot can be... difficult to approach." she said.

"why not spend time with you're sister." i asked.

"i would like to..." said celestia. "but she often stays in her moon kingdom and often ignores me... i can still tell she might be upset at me for imprisoning her on the moon for one thousand years." celestia let out another yawn.

"princess if you're tired i can go and let you sleep." i said starting to get up.

"no please, stay." she said. i settled back down and relaxed. "this is why i actually invited you to stay the night." she said.

"uh... i don't understand... why do you want me to stay the night." i asked.

"i'm embarrassed to say this, especially in front of you... but i wanted to spend some time with you." she said. she seemed to be relaxing and feeling right at home. i was still a bit rigid. i haven't seen this side of the princess and honestly after looking at her as princess after all this time being with her like this was an awkward situation. it would be like if you joined the army boot camp and the drill sergeant didn't yell and try and kill you... it's just not natural.

"you... you did." i said stammering a bit.

"yeah..." she said. yeah?...YEAH?...since when does celestia talk like that. " and the night is the only time for us to have some time together... i'm always busy during the day... but now it's my sisters turn to watch over equestria.

"so you both take turns ruling equestria." i said.

"yeah..." there it is again. "she has her kingdom on the moon and rules from there and i rule from my kingdom in equestria."

"because a kingdom on the sun was out of the question." i said jokingly. she laughed at the joke.

"if it was possible i would." she said in turn making me chuckle quietly.

"so why do you want to spend time with me celestia... surely you must have other friends." i said.

"not really." she said. "i have friends who are rulers of outlying countries and i've always got twilight's friendship reports to look forward to... but i see you as a close friend crimson." she said smiling warmly. "i it didn't take long for me to warm up to you as a friend even if you remained distant at most times... but i often enjoyed observing you're adventures and other shenanigans... when you left for two years i grew to miss that." she said.

"shenanigans are they... all have you know that my work is very important." i said jokingly as i started warming up too. she giggled. "theres always a theme to my work."

"and what theme is that." she said following along with the joke.

"being random and unpredictable." i said. we both started laughing. after a little bit the laughter died down and it got awkwardly quiet. "so princess you said you observe my adventures and what were they... shenanigans" i said. she laughed quietly to herself and smiled.

"yes... i have a spying orb inside of my room." she said. " i've been watching over you even before you had gained shadow powers and became what you are now... like the one time with the incident at the party..."

"i handled that pretty well didn't I." i said.

"the second time." she replied. "the first time didn't go so well... good thing i gave twilight that time stone a long time ago." she said.

"so wait... i went back in time... how did you... i... i can't even think of anything to say." i said, she laughed at my confusion.

"when i saw you were going to go back i linked myself to you and traveled back with you... i was curious, i could have let what happened happen but i wanted to see if you could prevail... and thankfully you did... besides how do you think those two guards got there so quickly."

"you haven't been controlling the outcome of my life have you." i said in a joking voice but i was serious on the inside. i don't want a repeat of what happened with mordecai and merithal. she still managed to giggle.

" i haven't been controlling you're life... just merely observing and helping." she said. i smiled and she did too. we sat there in silence for a while and i looked around while celestia went through a chest looking for something. i hadn't noticed but i was no longer glowing with energy and all of my armour was gone. my coat was still bright white. but my mane had changed to a silvery grey with thin black striations. i hadn't noticed but my hair seemed to flow by my side like celestia's and every other alicorns hair... i wonder why that is.

i looked back at my hair and noticed actually paid attention to it. it looked like a solid mass of flowing light that sparkled and shimmered. it glowed bright silver and black as it flowed to the side.

"my flowing mane doesn't make me look like a mare... does it?" i asked celestia. she laughed and looked up.

"you can stop it from doing that you know." she said.

"how?"

"just think about it..." she said. i closed my eyes and i could feel the flow of energy through my body. i felt the energy going to my hair and i stopped it. my hair returned to normal and it was a silver grey with black streaks and lining that fell to my side. it was ragged and messy but somehow shorter that it was when it was flowing by my side. only a few inches past my shoulders. i smiled.

"hey it worked." i said.

"were you expecting it to not work." said the princess.

" well no..." i said making her giggle into her own hoof. she stopped giggling and yawned again. i could see she was starting to get bags under her eyes and her eyelids looked like they were getting heavy. "princess i don't mind staying the night... but if you're so tired you should get some sleep, you are the princess after all, you have duties that you need to do in the morning and you should be well rested for them." i said.

"it's quite alright crimson..." she said. "i'm sure some coffee would pick me right up." she said standing up. i got up too.

"you drink coffee." i said with a bit of surprise but in a playful tone.

"i have to get up every morning at 4:30 to raise the sun... and you think i don't drink coffee." she said sarcastically. i just laughed.

"thats a good point." i said.

"would you like some..."

"oh god i haven't had good coffee since i left... i would love some, even if i don't need it." she smiled.

"well then lets make our way to the kitchen..." she said. i smiled too and i followed her out the door of the tower. we both walked through and suddenly we were both at the ground level again. we walked through the halls towards the kitchen and chatted a bit. we talked about small unimportant things like what we usually do for fun and stuff like that.

it wasn't long before we finally made it to the kitchen. even though it was night there were still lights and candles lit all over the castle. there were guards on duty, both canterlot guards and luna's bat guards. and sure enough when we rounded the corner and into the kitchen princess luna was there drinking a mug of coffee.

"ah good... my sister has already made coffee." said celestia. hearing her voice, luna turned and looked at us. she smiled when she saw me and the princess.

"good night celestia... what are you still doing up... it's late," said luna. "and why is crimson here."

"crimson and i are just catching up on some things... i'll probably be up all night so we came for some coffee." said celestia using her magic to pour some coffee into two mugs for her and i. she mixed in a bit of sugar and cream into both of them... that's not how i like my coffee but i don't mind, so i didn't comment.

"ah... i noticed that cousin nightflame was here now... so i figured crimson must have had something to do with that, i'm just surprised he's still here." said luna.

"it's nice to see you too luna."i said. celestia and luna both smiled.

"you know what i meant." she said, i smiled and laughed quietly.

we stood there and drank coffee and talked. the coffee ,by the way, was the best damn coffee i've ever had. i'm not sure if it was the long time since i had it, but it was pretty damn good. when we finished our coffee we luna went to go do her work and me and the princess went back to her study. the coffee must have helped because the princess was feeling very well rested now and was more awake.

we got back to the study and we walked in and took our seats back. we talked some more and caught up. we mostly discussed small details and stories of our own adventures and experiences. i even started talking to her about the times i used to serve in the war back on earth. she seemed very interested in the way humans waged war. it wasn't a targeted interest but an educative interest. eventually however the subject of marriage came up.

"so you've had a wife before you married rainbow dash." said the princess.

"yes... you know that." i said.

" sorry... i sometimes forget you were ever human." she said.

"don't worry... i do too." i replied with a smile which made her smile as well. we sat there in a bit of silence for a second before a question boiled up in me and i blurted it out. "so princess..." i said. "have you ever had a husband?" she seemed to blush and stop smiling.

"nopony has ever asked me that question before." she said.

"im sorry..." i said. "we can talk about something else."

"no... it's fine." she said." i'm somewhat glad you asked... i feel like nopony else just cared enough to ask, or had the courage."

"so have you...?" i asked again.

"no..." she said. "there are very few stallions of my... well, stature." she said. "believe me when i've had subjects that fell in love with me and have denounced it... but to court with one of them just seems... well." she seemed to be at a loss for words so i helped her.

"it would feel wrong." i said.

"yeah..." she replied. " i never had a stimulating sex life either." she said. that was a very edgy thing to say and she just said it openly.

"is that a reason why you're so lonely here." i asked.

"that would be the biggest reason." she said. "i've never actually met a stallion who was on par with me..." she said. "well except you." those were the words i was fearing. i scooted back a little making a short distance between me and celestia.

"what do you mean 'except me'?" i asked.

"well look at you." she said. "you're the same size, stature, power, and you've got a high position... you might not know it but you're a very celebrated figure in equestria and probably outside of it too."

"uhmm..." i said just sitting there and sweating.

"it's embarrassing to say but... well, you're probably the only eligible mate i've ever met in my life." she said. my eyes shrunk a bit and i was getting nervous.

"well princess... uhm, i... uh..." i couldn't think of things to say to her. she didn't seem to be coming onto me though.

"i can see this is making you nervous..." she said. "but i would never try anything knowing that you're married... i couldn't do that." she said. that made me relax and loosen up. i lightened up and stopped sweating.

"i'm sorry that you feel this way princess." i said.

"it's not you're fault... actually this is also part of the reason why i invited you to spend the night." she was really blushing now.

"so you could spend time with somepony you could relate to... without feeling like you have to keep looking down on them." i said.

"in a sense i look up to you... not because you're slightly taller than me... but because you have an amazing sense of determination, bravery, and faith." she said. "those are rare qualities."

"thank you princess..." i said.

"i always did however think about what it would be like..." she said.

"like what would be like?" i asked.

"if... you weren't married." she said. "if you and i... we're... you know." she said. i hadn't expected her to open up like this. it was awkward but i knew she wouldn't do anything brash or stupid. i also felt something like guilt towards her. "i'm probably just making this more awkward for you." she said. "i'm sorry."

"princess it's fine..." i said. i shuffled a bit closer to comfort her. by the time i stopped moving we were just a few inches from each other. she was keeping her head down. "i've never seen this side of you before and to be honest i think it's much better than the other side." i said. she smiled a bit.

"i remember when you first got you're powers and spent the week here while i trained you." she said. "i remember that day in the garden when you told me i should lighten up and have fun... kinda like now."

"well history does have a way of repeating itself." i said. she smiled and yawned. she must be getting tired again. i checked the clock behind her and it was about 11.

"i think i should get some sleep." she said. i smiled.

"alright... i should head back to ponyville then." i said.

"wait." she replied. i was about to get up and say goodbye but i stopped and sat back down.

"what." i asked.

"could you... stay the night, and keep me company." she said. i felt a bit uncomfortable about this... but i felt something else towards her.

"sure princess... i'll keep you company." i said. she laid her head down and closed her eyes. i relaxed too and laid my head down as well. we laid there on the two large cushions only inches away from each other. i started to drift to sleep when i felt something press against my back. i looked over to see that the princess had shuffled over and she had her back pressed to me. she was sleeping with a smile on her face.

i laid my head back down and tried to close my eyes and get some sleep but it was hard knowing i was sleeping this close to the princess. soon after i relaxed a bit i felt the princess shift around and she had wrapped her hooves around me. she pulled herself closer and rested her head on my neck. now it was really awkward. i could tell she was sound asleep.

it was even more uncomfortable now... but in a sense it wasn't. her breathing and heartbeat were very calming and she was very warm and soft. her hair had stopped flowing now and was a tangle of pink, blue, and green. it was everywhere. i could feel her light breathing down my neck and it started to put me to sleep. i closed my eyes and i started to dream.

in my dreams however i had started to fantasize about me and celestia. i saw us dating and having fun around canterlot. we would kiss and every night go to bed together. it seemed like i was living a different life than the one i really live. then there was one part of the dream that i don't think i could even forget... no matter if i wanted to or not.

me and celestia were in a huge fancy bedroom inside the castle. we were both without our armour and it was getting late. we both decided to go to bed and we crawled into the huge bedroom and used our magic to dim the lights. i said goodnight to her but she didn't reply... only smiled. she inched closer and i got confused. next thing i knew she had planted a huge kiss on my lips and hugged me tight.

she rolled over and soon enough she was on top of me. she broke away from the kiss and smiled. she only looked at me with a smile and her wanting eyes. she had started rubbing against me and nuzzled my head. i hugged her back and i could feel a strange pleasure wrapping over me. she looked back at me and went to kiss me again but before she could reach me everything went bright... and i woke up.

i shot up from my sleep instantly like i just had a nightmare. i was wet and sticky, i must have been sweating... hell i'm still sweating. i was breathing heavily and i had a killer headache. i looked around to see i was still in the princesses study... but she was gone. the window across the room was still a bit dim. i looked outside and the sun was barely up and the sky was a bright orange. the clock behind me said 6:24. i got up and decided i should go see the princess before i leave.

i got up and walked to the door... well sort of. it would be more accurate to say that i was shambling to the door, like a zombie. i felt seriously off. physically and mentally i felt off. like i was going to collapse at any second but i wasn't tired or hurt or hungry... i just felt... off. i walked past the doorway and was on the first floor of the castle again. i kept walking and i passed a few canterlot guards on my way.

after i had walked past a few doors my body just decided to stop and i fell to the ground and almost whited out. i hit the ground with a thud which alarmed a few guards. they rushed over to assist me.

"sir crimson..." one of them said. "are you alright?" they tried to helped me up and i was beginning to regained control of my body.

"what's going on here?" said a strong voice. i looked up to see a white stallion with blue spikey hair and armour. next to him was a mare with lovely pink and golden hair and she had a horn... and wings... god dammit. she too had a crown and armour.

"s-sir shining armour... and princess cadence... we were just helping up sir crimson blast." said one of the guards who stood at attention like the rest completely ignoring me. it was alright though, i had gained my strength back and got up... but i still felt weak. not of body anymore but of mind. something was tearing at my head and trying to do something.

"this is the crimson adventurer i've heard so much about." said the mare... princess cadence i think it was.

"he is rather imposing... if he wasn't just lying on the ground." said the stallion, shining armour. "so you're my sisters friend..."

"sister... friend... who is you're sister." i asked with my hoof on my forehead.

"my younger sister twilight sparkle." he said.

"twilight is you're sister..." i said. "she never mentioned she had a brother."

"mr. crimson." asked cadence. "are you feeling alright."

"hnnng... n-no... i'm not... but i'll be fine." i said as my head started to pound even more.

"well it's interesting meeting you under these conditions." she said. "always thought we would meet differently."

"sorry... if...hnnng...if i'm not bowing... p-princess, i don't think...i...i would get up." i grit my teeth in pain... it literally felt like there was something inside my head clawing away at my brain.

"cadence why don't you help him with his headache like you help me." said shining armor.

"good idea honey." she said...honey? before i could question a green aura surrounded her horn and she shot a beam of energy at my head and it was surrounded by energy. i started to get a bit dizzy and woozy. it didn't last long and when it stopped the pain in my head quickly faded and i could think straight. i stood up and smiled.

"thank you princess." i said properly bowing this time. she smiled.

"it wasn't a problem... i'm just glad to help." she said. "and i'm glad you're here actually... it saves us some trouble." i looked at her questionably.

"we would like to invite you to our wedding." said shining armor... that would explain the 'honey' part. " we've already sent out invitations to my sister and her friends this morning and they should be arriving in the afternoon... why don't you stay and wait for them."

"we would be honored if you would stay for the wedding." said the princess. i thought about it and i looked at them they smiled at me and i smiled back.

"sure..."

-Authors Note: Hey guys... how you been... you been good, good. so yeah... its here... up there actually. and you guys already know where this is going. so yeah. i'm back in the saddle again, might even be kind and write up a second part tonight and post it later... if i have the time. but yeah. i read a lot of your stories and they're all equally awesome. and yeah that little teaser with the princess... hope you guys like that because it s all your getting. i'm serious, there's no way in hell that is going to happen, no way, not ever, not going to happen...maybe. you guys are really going to have to persuade me if you want that shit to happen. but until then it's not happening. so keep reading.

and before i forget

SHOUT OUTS AND OC CHARACTERS:

- Shout out to all you magnificent bastards out there with stories and shit... keep that up.

- Shout out to **issaacc98** for his OC Nightflame.

- Shout out to **GearGamer** for his OC Red Wing.

I have planned for both OC characters Nightflame and Red Wing to make later appearances.

until then bro's... stay shady

-End of Note-


	79. Chapter 79: Forever In Death

**-WARNING-**

**The following chapter contains graphic and violent material... not content of sexual nature however, but really it gets pretty bloody so read at your own will... but i wouldn't miss this chapter for anything.**

**-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED-**

i spent the rest of the day with princess cadence and shining armor before my friends got here. we talked about the threat to canterlot which explained a lot of things... like the huge shield looming over canterlot which i somehow missed. other than that we talked about their personal lives. they asked me how marriage was and i told them and all that stuff.

i asked them how they met and shining armour told me they met a long time ago when cadence used to babysit for twilight. the wedding wasn't for two more days and they wanted me to help with the foreign threat so we went to the barracks and shining armor induced me into the ranks of the guards... temporarily. cadence went to go see the princess and left me and shining outside of the barracks... word had already got out that the element bearers had arrived shortly after.

"so you and cadence seem like a lovely couple." i said to shining.

"we've been happy together dating for years... never thought i'd ever get married to a royal member." he replied.

"take my word for it..." i said. "things don't always come out the way they seem... five years ago i was a normal pony who had escaped from a foreign country under siege... now look at me... i used to have red fur and black hair." he just laughed while i smiled.

"well it's good to know my little twilley made good friends while she was gone." he said. just then twilight had started walking into the barracks looking somewhat angry. speak of the devil and she shall appear.

"ah twilley... how are you doing." he said.

"hey twi." said looking over to her.

"hello crimson... it's good to see you again." she said in a friendly voice. "hello brother." she said with a less friendly voice. i'm sensing a bit of negativity.

"are you alright twilight." i asked.

"yes i'm fine..." she replied. "crimson do you mind leaving so me and my brother can talk alone." she asked.

"sure twi... besides i should go and find dash." i said.

"she's probably at the castle with the others talking with the princess." she said.

"alright twi... see ya." i said walking off and waving with a smile. she waved and i trotted out of the barracks. as i walked away i could start to hear yelling but i couldn't make it out. i just rolled my eyes and smiled. i walked down the stone path and right to the front entrance of the castle. the barracks isn't too far... it's practically part of the castle itself. when i got to the gate the guards let me in without any question.

i walked in and up the stairs and into the main lounge. there was nopony there so i kept walking forward and walked into the throne room. i kept there and walked around and around the castle until i got to the ceremony room above the throne room were me and dash got married. as i turned the staircase and walked into the room i could see the other five talking with the princess. i smiled and walked over. as the princess saw me she smiled too. i still felt a bit awkward around her... but i was good at hiding it.

"hello crimson..."she said. "did you enjoy you're stay last night?"

"yes..." i replied as the others turned and saw me. they quickly greeted me with smiles. especially dash... even though pinkies was smiling enough for the rest of them... like always. "it was very kind of you to house me for the night..." i said. "sorry about yesterday everypony." i said turning my attention to the others. "things got a bit crazy."

"don't sweat it." said dash nuzzling against me as i walked over to join them. "when the princess wrote to us about what happened we didn't mind."

"yeah... then fluttershy told us what happened to her yesterday at our picnic this morning." said rarity.

"it was mighty brave of you... and awful selfless." said applejack.

"well there was no way i was going to do nothing..." i said. fluttershy looked at me with a smile and blushed.

"i heard you've already met the bride and groom." said celestia.

"yes i have... they're a wonderful couple." i said. "i was a bit shocked when i learned twilight had a brother."

"she's a bit mad at him though." said dash.

"yeah i noticed... she met us at the barracks and told me to come here." i said. "i'm sure they'll be fine though."

"and princess cadence it absolutely gorgeous." said rarity. "i love what she's done with her mane."

"speaking of the princess, princess." i said looking at celestia. "how many relatives are you hiding from us." i said. celestia just giggled a bit.

"princess mi amore cadenza is my niece." she said.

"mi amore cadenza?" i said. "...niece?" i said after with more emphasis.

"yes... that's her full name." said the princess. "we just call her cadence."

"so she's lunas daughter?" i said.

"well no... i have a brother... but we don't talk about him." said celestia with a bit of remorse in her voice but still managing to keep an upbeat tone in light of upcoming events. i decided not to delve too deep into that dark secret already having revealed several of her secrets.

"i can respect that." i said.

"thank you... so back where we were." said the princess. "twilight will keep everything running and organized, applejack is in charge of catering and food, rarity will be designing the dress, pinkie pie is in charge of the party and festivities for after the wedding, fluttershy and her bird's will be performing the music for the ceremony, and dash will perform a sonic rainboom after the kiss and the bride and groom move to the balcony... is everything clear." asked celestia.

"yes princess." everypony said bowing their heads a little and smiling.

"wonderful... and crimson." said the princess. "with you're new abilities i want you helping with all aspects... the whole town of ponyville is getting ready for this royal wedding... i want you to go around and help everypony in anyway you can."

"yes princess." i said nodding my head.

"wonderful... now why don't the rest of you get going... we have a lot of work to do." said the princess. we all smiled and bowed again. we started heading out and i walked with dash. "crimson i need to speak with you alone about one more thing." said celestia. i looked at dash and she just smiled.

"go ahead." she said. "i'll be practicing in the canterlot gardens... if you're out late the princess has set us up rooms at the fort royale hotel... you'll find us." she said smiling. i smiled back.

"i'll find you whenever i can." i said smiling. i leaned down and gave her a kiss. she left my side and walked away with the others. i walked back and stood by the princess. she didn't say anything but we both walked together down the stairs and into the throne room. we walked along the walls and stained glass windows we stopped.

"i wanted to show you something." she said. she pointed over to the windows. i recognized one of them as the time me and my friends stopped discord. it was me and discord battling as we were being hit by the elements of harmony. but there were four more.

one was a picture of me surrounded by light and different items and gems with a skeletal looking dragon circling me. i had my wings out and i was covered in my armour. the second one was me again standing on the ruins of some kind of building with a belt floating above my head. the belt had a picture in it of a gryphons talons closed in a fist.

the third one was a picture of me with my eyes closed floating on top of a peak of some kind of temple. i recognized that the depictions of the burning shadow and the blinding shard were floating next to me. above the white gem was the sun and the black one held the moon.

the next window was my favorite so far. it showed princess luna in her glory standing on top of a castle of the moon with her magic spreading over the land. but above her was me. i was looming over the whole picture with my wings spread out wide and i had both hooves held up in the air and i was holding the burning shadow which was glowing brightly and its magic rained over the whole picture.

"these must be easy to install." i said as the last window depicted the event of me helping luna which only happened like a few days ago.

"magic helps a lot." said celestia. "but you know what these are don't you."

"my accomplishments if i had to guess." i said.

"more than that..." she said. "it's you're legacy... i can see now that this isn't going to be the end of it... i'm going to run out of windows at some point." she said. i chuckled quietly.

"if i remember twilight and the others have some of these in here don't they." i said.

"yes... i'm sure with them being the bearers of the elements they're going to see a lot of adventure in their lives." said the princess.

"having me as a friend helps with those odds too." i said she giggled a bit. after she was done i could feel her mood get a bit more serious but she still remained upbeat like earlier.

"i'm sure shining armor has already informed you of the threat to equestria." said the princess.

"yes he has told me... he even appointed me to help guard against anything unusual while the wedding is taking part." i said.

"well i'm glad he had invited you to attend the wedding." said the princess. "i would have had you attend regardless but it saves me the trouble of pulling a few strings..."

"lucky you." i said.

"i'm not too sure about that..." she said. "i'm certain that this threat may be too big for us to avoid already... so i would have you take position in canterlot even after the wedding."

"so you'll already have me leave my friends and family already." i said.

"no not entirely..." she said. "i would have twilight and the others stay here as well should we need the elements."

"smart..." i replied.

"and about you're job i gave you earlier."

"yes?"

"not only do i want you to help around canterlot but i know that you would be able to sense any kind of trouble or anything strange... so i want you to scout around while you're at it as well." said celestia.

"alright... is that all." i asked.

"yes that should do it... i'll be looking forward to seeing everypony at the wedding... until then i will be watching from my study... good luck." she said smiling and teleported away. i just rolled my eyes and smiled too. i turned around and started walking out of the castle. i walked out of the throne room and out of the lounge and past the palace gates.

i walked around for a bit and circled around town looking for anypony that would need my help in any kind of way. this town is pretty well off so i doubt that many of the ponies would need my help. all the ponies that saw me smiled and kept walking. even the ones that were really stuffy and uptight. there were ponies that would keep their noses pointed straight into the air but they smiled and waved when they saw me... so i guess this is what it's like to feel important.

as i walked i started to feel a bit hungry. i decided that i should go see if applejack needed help with the catering... and also if she had any food. but i'll have to control myself so i don't eat everything. so i walked around and used my powers to pinpoint apple jacks location. i came up to a small bakery and smiled as i walked in. when i walked in i saw applejack with another mare assistant. i also saw twilight and princess cadence.

"so princess right 'ere we got some delicious apple fritters... they're sure to fill up your gut." said applejack.

"they look...uhm...good." said cadence.

"i know you might be a bit anxious so i'll pack some up fer ya." she said as she started tossing a few into a brown bag and handing them to cadence. nopony had noticed me yet except the assistant who stared at me curiously.

"uhh... thanks." said cadence. as soon as applejack had her back turned cadence threw the bag into the trash. i found that a bit odd but i didn't care enough to question it. but my head started to throb again. cadence turned and left. when she saw me she smiled as she walked past me and went outside.

"oh hey there crimson..." said applejack mixing batter in a bowl. "didnt see ya there... if yer hungry you'll have to go someplace else... this foods fer the weddin'."

"applejack did you see her throw those fritters away." said twilight acting a bit strange.

"oh not this again." said applejack. "look twi ah'm sure she's just a bit jittery about the weddin' and wasn't feelin' hungry."

"c'mon crimson you have to believe me..." said twilight not surprised that i was here. "you're the most level headed pony i know." she said. my headache was starting to get worse.

"you're acting a bit strange twi." i said. she seemed a bit shocked. " i spent half the day with princess cadence and she's one of the kindest ponies i've ever met in canterlot... i'm sure she just didn't want to spoil herself... or maybe she already ate." twilight let out a frustrated groan and left the room.

"she's been acting a bit weird lately." said applejack.

"she's probably just nervous or something... either that or she's still mad at her brother."

"ah don't think she's mad at shining armor." said applejack. "ah heard he made her his best mare." i pondered a bit but my head was hurting more now. i just said my goodbye with applejack and wrapped up the conversation. i left the bakery and started heading through town. i think i should find cadence and see if she can help with my headache again.

i walked around and looked for her. it wasn't hard because not after too long i saw her in the park talking to fluttershy. i started to walk over and they had parted ways before i could get there. luckily cadence was walking my way. when she saw me she put on a smile. i did too. she stopped in front of me and i bowed in respect.

"good evening princess cadence." i said. "how is you're evening."

"just fine..." she said in a casual voice. a wave of pain flourished over my head and i grit my teeth as i stood up and put my hoof over my head which was burning up and pounding now. "oh is you're headache coming back?" she asked with sympathy in her voice.

"yes... i was wondering if you could help." i asked.

"not a problem." she said closing her eyes and smiling. she used her magic to fire a beam of energy at my head and cure it. like last time i got dizzy and drowsy but when it was over my headache quickly faded and i was fine i looked at her and smiled.

"thank you princess." i said bowing my head.

"it's no trouble... if the headaches come back just find me... i'll be glad to help." she said. and with that she walked away and left the park. i looked down the path to see fluttershy and her bird's practicing. i decided to go over and talk to her. i walked over and cleared my voice. it startled her a bit but when she saw me she smiled and relaxed.

"hello fluttershy." i said smiling.

"hello crimson..." she said smiling as well. "would you like to hear what we have so far." she asked.

"i would love to fluttershy." i said. she smiled and turned to her bird's.

"alright everypony ready... one, two, one two three." she said waving a conductor's wand. the bird's started chirping in harmony and they were singing the bridal song. they didn't get all the way through it and stopped after the most recognizable part. it sounded beautiful nonetheless.

"that was very good fluttershy." i said.

"thank you..." she said. "oh crimson i just remembered, rarity wants to see you. she needs to measure you so she can make a suit for you."

"thank you." i said. i waved goodbye and left the park. i walked around until my senses picked up rarities location and i followed it. i ended up walking up to a fancy looking tailoring shop. i walked over to the door and stepped inside. i saw rarity at the sewing machine stitching some fabrics together.

i looked over at the table next to her and i saw a pile of beautiful dresses just thrown on top of the table. they looked like wedding dresses. i had figured those would be on mannequins instead of just being thrown on the table like that.

"hello rarity." i said. she turned around to see me.

"good you're here crimson... i need to measure you for a suit that i want to make for you... i would hope you wear it instead of you're armour." she said. "afterall the bride and groom should be the center of attention... not you." can't argue with that.

"alright so what do i do?" i asked.

"just stand over here and do what i say... this will be over quickly." i walked over like she said and stood up straight. she used her magic to float a measuring tape over and start measuring me.

"so what's with those dresses on the table?" i asked.

"those were my original designs for princess cadences wedding gown and the dresses for her bride's maids... but she was here earlier and she didn't like them so much...*deep sigh*... so now i have to remake the dresses, lift you're front hoof."

"was twilight here too." i asked lifting my front hoof.

"yes she was, now lift you're wings." she said as i put my hoof down and lifted my wings. she measure my wing span and the base of them with the measuring tape and wrote down the numbers in a notepad with the rest. "she was acting a bit strange though..."

"she was like that earlier today at at apple jacks bakery..." i said.

"if you ask me she's just being possessive of her brother."

"yeah that's what i figured." i said. "i'm sure she'll be over it before the wedding."

"i hope so..." she said using her magic to pull the measuring tape back and put it on the table with her measurements. "alright... all done." she said. "i expect you'll be at the rehearsal tomorrow at three... i'll have you're suit done by then."

"yeah i'll be there." i said with a smile as i stretched out a bit.

"oh and me and the girls are meeting up at the juice bar later tonight at seven... try and be there too." she said.

"alright i'll see you all tonight." i said waving goodbye as i left the building. i walked out and looked around thinking of what to do next. i thought about giving pinkie some help with, but if she's in charge of the party then there's no help i can give her. and i'm still hungry... so i'll go get some food.

and that's what i did. i went to a restaurant and spent several bits on a big meal and carried on the rest of my day. i went around and tried to see if there were any ponies that needed help. there weren't many. there were a few ponies that needed my help. they were mostly working ponies who weren't fancy like the rest and actually had work to do. it was mostly just heavy lifting and fixing broken stuff. that's basically how my day went.

i did end up going to see pinkie anyway to look at what she had planned. there were a lot of streamers and balloons everywhere along with some rather appropriate-ish decorations everywhere. there were party games put up like pin the tail on the horse, and other things... not exactly wedding material but what can i say, pinkie will be pinkie. i said hello and we talked... and by talked i mean i had the most stimulatingly random and one sided conversation with pinkie and when she finally stopped i wrapped it up and left. when i left i felt like i needed to take a nap.

by the time it was getting dark i started heading to this juice bar rarity told me about. i used my senses to sniff it out and they led me to the place i was looking for. i saw all my friends sitting there sipping on some smoothies and sitting on cushions outside the bar. i walked over to the bar first and ordered my drink. i ordered an alcoholic smoothie seeing as they sold them. i noticed it was the same as my other friends smoothies but a different color.

i walked over to the table with my drink beside me and took a seat next to dash and applejack. the others smiled and casually continue their conversation. twilight was ranting about something. i took a sip from my drink and it was surprisingly strong. i decided to listen in on the conversation.

"c'mon you guys... i'm telling you, there's something seriously wrong with princess cadence... like how she threw out applejacks food, completely turned down rarities beautiful dresses, and ruthlessly rejected pinkies party ideas."

"c'mon twilight you're over reacting." said dash.

"i'm not..." she said. "crimson you can back me up can't you."

"sorry twi... but i do agree you are acting strange." i said.

"you kidding me." she said pounding her hooves on the table. "she's been nothing but mean and nasty all day and you guys are taking her side."

"well she did criticize one of my bird's." said fluttershy holding up a robin.

"thank you fluttershy." said twilight.

"but he was horribly off key." she said. the bird started singing in a horrible and ear shattering off key. when it stopped she let it go and it flew away.

"what about you dash." twilight asked.

"she hasn't bothered me today... i just practiced in the garden." said dash rubbing her wings.

"i don't think you'll say anything different crimson." said twilight pouting.

"this is ridiculous twilight." i said. "maybe she threw away apple jacks cooking because she's been feeling a bit woozy from the stress of getting married. she probably turned down rarities dresses because she doesn't like them... it is her wedding, she deserves to wear the dress she dreams of... and pinkies party decorations... c'mon, pin the tail of the horse... bean bag tosses... multicolored balloons...that one was easy."

"what's wrong with my party decorations." asked pinkie. "i thought they were awesome."

"pinkie it's a wedding not a birthday party." said rarity.

"ughhh... you guys are ridiculous... there's something wrong with her and i'm going to find out what it is." she said slamming her hooves on the table causing the drinks to spill over as she stormed away. i used my magic to clean the mess and refill everyponies drinks. i let out a deep sigh.

"god dammit twilight." i said.

"where do you think she's off to now." asked rarity.

"probably her brothers house." said applejack.

"i hope he can talk some sense into her... if anypony can it probably would be him." i said taking another sip from my drink. the others did too. probably drinking out the lingering feelings from that heated argument.

"so hows everyponies jobs going" i asked.

"pretty good..." said applejack. "we've got the first three layers of the cake baked and decorated... were frosting the fourth part tomorrow and finishing up after the rehearsal."

"me and my bird's have finished with the first song and we're working on the others." said fluttershy.

"i'm still working on the party... but i guess i should get rid of the games and choose new colors." said pinkie. that might have been the most rational thing she's said all day. she may be crazy and random but she's responsible and knows what she's doing... it's like being mentally crazy but aware of the world... i would love to see the world through her eyes.

"the brides dress and her maids dresses are done and i've started working on yours crimson." said rarity. "it will be done before the rehearsal."

"trainings going good..." said dash. "it shouldn't be much of a problem performing another sonic rainboom." we spent the next half hour talking and drinking smoothies. with the alcohol in them i could see everypony getting a bit drunk except me... and surprisingly pinkie. although i'm sure she was drinking regular smoothies.

when we were all done we headed to the hotel and to our separate rooms. me and dash said goodbye to the others and we went into our room. it was a lovely looking room. it looked like it could be part of the castle itself. we both climbed into bed which was almost big enough to fit me. i'm just lucky that it didn't snap under my weight and size.

dash was pretty drunk but she was sober enough to keep her thoughts together. we both climbed under the covers and dash cuddled up to me and i held her in my arms. we both said our goodnights and i turned off the lights. as the room went dark i closed my eyes and started to dream. i light of the wedding i had began to relive the day me and dash got married.

it wasn't long until i was woken up by the sound of a ringing alarm. i looked over to see an old fashioned bell alarm clock going off and freaking out on the desk. i used my magic to turn it off and i looked at the time. it was 8 in the morning. we got up a bit late but that's fine... we've got all day and the rehearsal isn't until three.

dash started to lazily get up and rub her eyes. i smiled and we both got up. i went to the kitchen and started making something for breakfast while she showered and washed up. by the time i was done she had gotten out and we both sat down and ate together. after we left the hotel with pinkie and rarity who we met leaving together. after we left the hotel rarity broke off to go to her tailor shop.

me dash and pinkie walked together to the castle. i wanted to speak to celestia about something. after we passed the gates dash gave me a kiss and continued on to the garden me and pinkie entered the palace. we both walked into the throne room and she broke off to go to the ballroom upstairs. i stayed in the throne room and i walked over to celestia who was sitting on her throne.

"hello crimson." she said. "how are the wedding preparations coming along?" she asked.

"they're fine princess." i said. "i actually need to talk to you about something." i said. she looked at me and gestured for the guards to leave. as they left she walked down from the throne and stood by me.

"what is it?" she asked... "have you noticed anything strange."

"sort of." i said. "it's about twilight."

"what's wrong with twilight."

"i'm not exactly sure..." i said. "she's been acting strangely all day and seems to have pitted herself against princess cadence... i thought it was just because she was being defensive of her brother but after we got into a bit of an argument last night i can see it might be something more." i said.

"do you know what she has against cadence?" asked celestia. she started walking down the long hall of the throne room and i followed right next to her.

"she seems convinced that cadence is crazy..." i said. "like she's evil or something... twilight seems to greatly distrust her."

"do you believe her?" asked the princess. i stayed silent for a second reflecting on the question. why would the princess ask that? probably because if i did believe twilight or not it would completely change the situation.

"i've always trusted and relied on my friends." i said causing celestia to raise a brow towards me. "but i find it hard to believe that princess cadence is evil... i think twilight might just be looking at things in a different way. she is a very stubborn pony and her initial defensiveness of her brother must have planted a bit of distrust in her that she's become too stubborn to let go of."

"you might be right." said celestia. "but i want you to watch her and make sure she doesn't do anything foolish... we can't risk something in a time like this."

"yes princess." i said .

"i'll be sure to watch more carefully from now on... thank you for bringing this to my attention." she said. i smiled and bowed as i left the throne room. i walked out and left the palace. it hurt a little bit to go against my friend twilight like that but it was important i let the princess know.

i spent the rest of the day walking around and looking for some work to do but i couldn't find any. and before i knew it, it was almost three. i was pretty far from the palace so i spread my wings and flew over to the castle in a matter of seconds. i walked in and got to the ceremonial room where everypony was waiting. princess cadence and shining armor had taken their places at the front in front of the princess.

rarity walked over and handed me a suit that had been folded up and polished. i grabbed the suit and held it. i focused my magic and i managed to make my armour vanish. though i was still glowing i had tried to dull it as much as i could but the symbols on my body glowed faintly and were easily visible no matter how hard i tried to stop them... it'll be fine. i used my magic to quickly pop my suit on me in a matter of seconds. it was a lean black tuxedo with a silver tie. it looked rather dashing.

before anything started twilight burst through the doors. she looked a bit angry but when she saw us all here she looked a bit stunned too. she wasn't wearing a dress and the mood on her face made me afraid that she was going to do something stupid.

"what are you all doing..." she said towards her friends excluding me.

"isn't it great." said pinkie.

"princess cadence made us her brides maids." said applejack. speaking of best mares and brides maids what the hell was i supposed to do.

"what happened to her old bridesmaid." asked twilight

"they were just using this as an excuse to get close to the royal family." said dash.

"when cadence figured it out she made us her brides maids instead... isn't it wonderful." aid fluttershy smiling.

"no it's not wonderful... she's just using you and my brother." said twilight.

"twilight stop this." said shining armor.

"no..." said twilight. "i saw what she did. she used her magic to make you're eyes go all..." she paused to make her eyes roll around in a crazy manor. "she's been brainwashing you... she's evil." twilight said walking past shining armor and glaring at cadence.

"i can't believe you would ruin my wedding like this twi." cadence said breaking down into tears. shining armor walked over and comforted her. he then turned his gaze to twilight. his eyes cut right through twilight and her grin of victory from before disappeared. cadence had left through a back door to go and cry.

"you know twilight cadence has been anxious since we decided to first get married. and on top of the fact that i have to keep up the shield around equestria we've been under a lot of stress." he said.

"well what about the spell she put on you." said twilight.

"it's a healing spell... keeping the shield up is a lot of work and i've been getting terrible headaches... she's been using her magic to cure me." he said.

"thats what she wants you to say." said twilight.

"it's true." i said speaking up. "she's been helping me with a few terrible migraines that i've been getting lately... and if you think that she can control my mind... well then you must be crazy." i said. again it hurt to go against twilight like that but she had gone too far this time.

"see twilgiht." said shining armor. "cadence isn't evil... i thought that out of everypony here you would be the most level headed... that's why i made you my best mare." he said walking past her.

"but... shining." twilight said.

"i don't want to hear it." he said cutting her off. "you can forget about being my best mare." he said, that had to hurt. and i could tell from the sad and horrified expression on twilight's face. " infact if i were you... i wouldn't even bother showing up to the wedding anyway."... that probably killed her. her expression from before only worsened. she was speechless. shining armor walked out of the room followed by my friends who all had disappointed and pitiful looks on their faces. even the princess walked past twilight and glared at her with extreme disappointment.

i walked out with the others but when i looked back at her my expression of disappointment wasn't filled with anger and disgust but instead it was the look you give someone when you give up on them. it hurt me a bit to see her like that but she did go too far. there was definitely something wrong with her. i walked out and closed the door behind me. i walked down the stairs and met up with the others in the throne room.

"you were right crimson." said the princess. "there is definitely something wrong with twilight."

"i can't believe that she just did that." said dash.

"me either..." i said. i looked over to shining who seemed guilty. "are you alright." i said looking at him.

"yes i'm fine..." he replied. "it wasn't easy saying those things to twi... i thought she would be happy about our wedding."

"i'm sure after that scene upstairs she might be thinking differently." i said. "why don't you go and comfort cadence and i'll go see if i can't slap some sense into twilight."

"that sounds like a good idea." said the princess. "the rest of you still have preparations to make... the wedding is tomorrow at noon... i hope everything will be alright by then." we all bowed before the princess and left. me and shining went back up to the ceremony room to find twi and cadence. when we walked over and opened the doors we found cadence sitting on top of the platform sitting there with a few tears in her eyes.

"cadence are you alright?" asked shining armor running past me to comfort his spouse. he held her and cheered her up and i soon walked over beside them. "how are you feeling?" he asked.

"i'm fine..." she said. "i was just a bit shocked that she would do this."

"i'm sorry about twilight..." i said. "but do you know where she is?"

"i don't..." said cadence. "i wanted to talk to her but when she saw me she just glared at me and teleported away... i don't know where she could be."

"alright... i'll have to look for her." i said. i walked away from shining armor and cadence and walked out to the balcony. i used my magic to pop my suit right off and fold it up neatly. i tucked it inside of my bags and i took off to the skies. i flew around and tried to hunt down twilight.

it took me all day to try and find her. i even tried using my senses and powers to locate her but i couldn't pick anything up. i kept looking around and before i knew it i had circled around canterlot several times with no trace and it was getting dark. i was sure she wasn't here anymore. i flew back the the palace and saw celestia up in the balcony of her tower looking through a telescope. i flew over and landed on the balcony. she noticed me and turned back and looked at me.

"how did the search go... i assume you've had no luck since you've already circled canterlot 15 times now." she said. i just nodded.

"i'm certain that twilight isn't in canterlot anymore... she probably went back to ponyville." i said.

"well it's probably for the best..." said celestia. "i'm honestly surprised she would pull off something like this... it's not like her."

"it certainly isn't... i think we should leave her alone for now and i'll be sure to keep my senses extra sharp during the wedding." i said.

"thats probably the best we can do now..." she said. "but after the wedding i want you to track her down and bring her to me... i want to get to the bottom of this."

"do you think twilight has become a threat..." i said.

"not herself... but i fear something may be compelling her to ruin the wedding and sabotage our shields." said the princess. "but that will be a later event... right now you should get some sleep... it's a big day tomorrow." i just nodded and flew away to the hotel i was staying at. i got there and found my room. i walked in to see dash sitting on the bed reading a book. i walked over and she smiled when she noticed me.

"hey..." she said. "any luck with twilight?"

"no..." i replied. "i'm sure that she's left canterlot."

"are you having trouble dealing with this too." asked dash.

"yeah." i replied walking over to the bed and sitting next to dash. "i'm just as shocked as everypony else and i knew that she might do something reckless."

"well it doesn't help to worry about it now." said dash. "we have to make sure princess cadence and shining armor have the best wedding ever tomorrow... and frankly, my wings are killing me."

"here let me help." i said smiling and putting my hooves on dashes back. i started rubbing and massaging her wings while she read her book.

"oooh right there..." she said as i got to the base of the wings. i massaged her wings for a bit before we both got tired. she put the book on the end table and we both crawled into bed together. "thanks... you're the best."

"gotta make sure that sonic rainboom of yours is the best ever."i said. she smiled and gave me a kiss before we both fell to sleep. i drifted off to sleep and started having a strange dream. i was dreaming that i was trapped in some kind of mine... but there were huge reflective crystals everywhere. i could see evil green eyes in the darkness. i tried to run but no matter where i ran the evil green eyes would follow me laughing evilly. there was no end to the cave, no end to the darkness, and no end to the evil laughter. after what seemed like forever the ringing of the alarm clock woke me up and saved me from the seemingly endless nightmare.

"are you alright..." asked dash looking at me half awake. "you don't look too good." she was right. i was all ragged and sweaty. i was also breathing heavily. i quickly calmed down though.

"yeah i'm fine..." i said. "it was just a bad dream."

"alight... why don't we get some left over breakfast and wash up... the wedding starts in four hours and we should get there early." said dash. i smiled and nodded.

we ate leftover breakfast from the one i cooked yesterday and we started washing up. dash showered first while i set our clothes out for the wedding. once dash was done i went and showered too. i just let my hair run under the water for a while and washed the rest of my body with a bar of soap. after i used my magic to dry myself and clean my teeth. i came out decently clean. my hair was literally sparkling and slightly glowing. it wasn't waving by my side but it fell next to me and seemed like it was just a bunch of flowing energy coming from my head... i liked it this way.

i walked into the other room to see dash in her rainbow and cloud dress. i used my magic to quickly put on my suit and when i checked the time it had only been a little more than an hour. we decided to get going and it took us only another half hour to get there. when we walked into the palace we were greeted by wedding decorations and designs hanging up all over the place.

when we got to the ceremonial room we saw that it was ready for a big wedding. there was a red carpet leading to the front platform and everything was white and pretty. there were flowers in large urns everywhere and decorations hung up all over the place. the next thing we saw was the princess and our other friends including shining armour standing at the platform and talking. cadence wasn't there however. she's probably in the back getting ready. we walked over and joined the circle.

"just in time." said the princess. she looked over to shining armor who looked at me.

"crimson... i want to ask you if you would like to be my best stallion." he said. not as catchy as best mare... but still.

"it would be an honor." i said.

"thank you..." he said still feeling bad about what happened yesterday. we both smiled and got ready for the wedding. after about a few hours we took our places just in time for the guests to start arriving. i saw a couple walk in that i immediately single out s twilight's parents... it was an easy tell. it wasn't much longer before the room was full and not longer after that, that the ceremony had started.

fluttershy's bird's sung out and signaled the arrival of the bride. a few young fillies had pranced down the aisle with baskets of roses in their mouths. to my surprise one of the fillies turned out to be rarity's sister sweetie belle. soon princess cadence started walking down the aisle with her gown dragging behind her. soon enough she stepped up and looked shining armor in the eyes and they both smiled in joy and love.

it wasn't long until princess celestia started presenting the nuptials and had both spouses read their vows. i stood there and smiled as i watched and so did the others. after the vows the ceremony continued. this was turning out quite well despite recent events. but as i should have guessed something had to go wrong... and i had no idea how wrong it would go.

"STOP" yelled a familiar voice as the room was filled with the sound of the doors being forced open. i looked over to see...twilight. god dammit twilight don't make me do anything we're both going to regret.

"what is she doing here." said cadence in an angry voice. "uhm... she's ruining everything." she said changing her tone to sorrow.

"thats not the real cadence." she said.

"I AM." said another voice. suddenly cadence walked out from the corner. she was beaten up and messy. but how can... there... cadance is... WHAT?

"damnit." said the cadence next to shining armor. "how did you escape the caves."

"thats not the real cadence... she's a changeling." said the other cadence. the first cadence started laughing. i was confused.

"very smart of you... but i'm afraid its too late." said the first cadence. her horn glowed green and she was surrounded by green fire that shot up into a large green and fiery beam. there was a collective gasp and shock across everypony. once the beam was gone she had changed. she was now some kind of disgusting bug creature.

he had green hair and tail along with green eyes and black skin. it was more of an exoskeleton. she had large bug wings and a shelled body. she also had a disfigured horn and fangs. on top of all that she had holes in her mane, wings, and bottoms of her hooves. she was like a pony, insect hybrid.

"by now my changeling army should be breaking through shining armors defences and terrorizing the city." she said. and without hesitation there was a large shattering noise and a small quake. i looked past the window to see the shield breaking apart and swarms of black dots flying into the city.

"shining armor's defenses will repel you're army." said the real cadence stepping up.

"i don't think so." said the changeling. i looked over to shining armor who was in some kind of trance. his eyes were a pale green and he was completely unresponsive. "you should have listened to poor little twilight sparkle... she was right all along." she said. "but now it's too late... soon my hive will consume all the love in this city and we will grow stronger."

"not if i have anything to do with it." said celestia in a deep booming voice. she slowly started flying up into the air. "i will not stand idly by while you terrorize and destroy my kingdom..." she said. her horn started glowing brightly with energy and so did the changelings. they both fired a large blast of energy at each other and the two blasts connected and they were at a stand still.

while they kept at it me and the others just stood there and watched in awe, shock, confusion, and other feelings like that. i was certain that celestia could win this battle. the other ponies however had fled in terror. celestia was looking down on the changeling with a still face while the changeling herself was struggling. celestia's beem grew closer to the changeling.

but to everyponies surprise the changelings beam soon started to overpower celestia's. celestia's confidence soon washed away into fear and shock right before she was hit with the blast. she was cast down from the air and hit the ground with a huge thud and her horn was burnt near the tip. the blast had caused her crown to get thrown off her head and i clanged and rolled against the ground.

"princess." twilight said as she and the others ran over to help celestia. i was completely still though and i was teeming with rage. the changeling seemed shocked at first but then she smiled.

"shining armor's love is strong enough to make me more powerful than even celestia herself..." said the changeling.

"you may have defeated celestia..." i said stepping forward. i used my magic to cast my armour onto my body and it tore the suit i was wearing to pieces from the inside. my gear and hood and cloak soon wove themselves onto me and i started glowing brightly and my crown and halo formed from the light. "but now you have to face me." i said in an intimidating voice.

"i don't think I should be the one worrying about you..." she said calmly. "but you're friends might feel that way." i looked at her with curiosity. she used her magic and quickly fired a beacon of green energy towards my head. it didn't do any damage and it lasted only a second. i went to say something but my mouth wouldn't move. i tried to move but i couldn't.

"what have you done." asked twilight.

"now crimson... walk over here." said the changeling. i wanted to growl and pounce at her but instead i did something much more frightening.

"yes my queen..." i said walking forward slowly with a blank expression on my face. i could see the terror and shock on my friends faces. also my armour and aura had changed to a sickly bluish green and had rips and holes in it. this can't be happening.

"t-twilight." said the princess struggling to speak. "you must get to the elements... you must stop the changeling queen."

"oh dear..." said the changeling queen. "we can't have that happening... crimson my dear i want you to get the elements of harmony and bring them to me."

"yes my queen." i said with no emotion.

"oh and destroy the holders of the elements while you're at it too." she added.

"yes my queen." i said getting ready to use a magical attack. i was aware of everything that was happening and i could feel magic flowing through my body. i panicked but i quickly came up with a solution. i could feel the energy charging inside me so i quickly cut off any magical flow. instead of using a magic attack i just created a burst of energy around me. i couldn't break her hold over me but i could keep myself from using magic... which will save them tons of trouble.

"crimson what the hell are you doing." said dash getting mad. i just walked forward with an emotionless face and pulled my sword from my sheath. it matched my armour and was jagged with holes in the blade. this can't be happening... i can't watch this... but i was being forced to.

"crimson stop this now... we're you're friends." said twilight.

"i obey the queen... i fight for the hive..." i kept inching closer and closer and they began backing up. soon they started running away and had thrown their clothes off. i stopped and watched them go.

"before you leave crimson do me a favor." said the queen. i turned and bowed.

"yes my queen..." i said.

"when you get the elements hunt them down and capture them... bring them here... i want to witness their execution."

"yes my queen." i said getting up. i shot right up into the air and broke through the palace roof. i hovered in the air and pinpointed my friends running across the bridge to the east side of the palace. i quickly flew over and landed on the other side of the bride in front of them and blocked their path. i tried as hard as i could to take control but there was no hope... i couldn't break her hold.

"crimson please don't do this." said dash. "think about me and you're friends... think about you're kids and the fate of equestria... stop it now." she yelled. i was dying on the inside but on the outside i was completely unmoved. i could feel myself trying to use more magic and i tried to hold it back... but it was no use.

my eyes glared and i soon had my friends tied up in magical ropes. they struggled to get free but it was no use. i was now completely out of control... all i could do was watch. i saw several other smaller changelings crawling across the bridge and they hissed at me. they must not think i'm one of them now.

soon one of them charged and so did several others followed by the rest. i unwillingly brought my friends closer to me and i could feel energy welling up inside me. when they were close i let the energy out in a field of light. the light passed over the bridge and stopped after it. all the changelings had been turned to ash... but luckily my friends were fine.

i turned and started walking into the other building. i kept walking and i entered the building with some kind of shield around me and my friends. my body was using magic that i didn't even know i had. on the other side was a large door that i figured held the elements. the building was infested with changelings however.

i walked down the long room without emotion as changeling after changeling tried to pounce on me. and every time was the same. they would touch the shield and instantly vaporize into ash... i could feel their souls being absorbed into my body and making me slightly more powerful every time. eventually however they got smart and stayed away... but they still watched and hissed at me.

i soon got to the large doors at the end of the hall and i tried to push them open. when they wouldn't budge i fired a magical blast from my chest. it hit the door and it started glowing and cracking. soon it shattered into pieces and fell to the floor. i used my magic to grab a small jewel box on a column in the small room. i opened it up and looked at the elements inside and closed it. i pulled it close to me and it passed through my shield without harm.

"crimson you have to fight it... you can't do this." yelled twilight.

"come on crimson... ah know you can fight back." shouted applejack.

"silence." i said using my magic to cover their mouths and silence them. they kept trying to resist and fight back. i turned and left the building. i slowly walked out and then back over the bridge. i walked down the path to the palace and even though it wasn't in my orders my body started killing everything in sight... guards and changelings alike. thankfully there were no regular ponies around.

i soon walked into the castle and walked to the throne room and then up to the ceremony room cleaving a path of death and destruction as i walked. when i entered the ceremony room i saw the queen at the window smiling. celestia was in some kind of strange green cocoon, princess cadence was glued to the floor by some kind of green slime and shining armor hadn't moved an inch. i walked over and stood behind the queen with the elements and my friends besides me. i lowered my shield and she noticed me and smiled.

"ah... good boy, you did an excellent job..." she said. "now ling you're friends sitting up on the ground... make sure they're facing the princess." said the queen.

"yes my queen." i said. i did just that and placed them in a curved line on the floor and faced them in the direction of the princess hanging from the ceiling. the queen used her magic to make green goo rise up and bind my friends to the ground. i released my magic grip on them and they sat there.

"YOU BITCH..." said twilight yelling out at the queen. "how can you do this." i quickly lifted my hoof up and smacked her across the face with great strength. the others cringed and looked away as twilight shrieked in pain and a squirt of blood flew from her nose when i broke it. i was practically killing myself inside trying to take back control.

"how dare you speak to the queen like that." i said. the others were crying and sobbing except for applejack who was teeming with rage but was afraid to speak out, and twilight who was bleeding and keeping her tears from showing... it wasn't working well.

"now now don't be so harsh my slave." said the queen.

"forgive me my queen." i said turning and bowing.

"do not worry..." she said. "now bring me the elements." she said moving over to the platform. i walked over with the elements beside me and stood in front of the queen. i held the box in front of her and she used her magic to place it on a column beside her. "you have done well." she said.

"anything for you my queen." i said.

"i was thinking..." said the queen. "and i'm sure of it now." she continued walking up beside me and circling around until she was in front of me again. "you'll make an excellent king for the changeling hive." she said. she brought herself closer and unwillingly i leaned down... and we kissed.

i could hear dash was crying even worse now and the others were too. even applejack who had run out of anger and only felt sadness and betrayal. i could feel every minute of the kiss and i wanted to throw up... but i couldn't. i was so close to her, i could cut her throat in a second... but instead i'm kissing her.

she pulled her head away from me and held the bottom on my head with her hoof. one string of saliva connected us but it broke as she moved further away. she was smiling but my body remained emotionless... on the outside. on the inside i was teaming with rage... i would level this whole mountain if it meant getting to kill the changeling queen. i was trying to make my body shout out in denial but it didn't work.

i could feel myself starting to pull energy from my body. i tried as hard as i could to keep pulling energy but it was difficult. if i can do it though maybe i can escape and and take control. i could save my friends and kill the changeling queen. she i ,without a doubt, going to be my most pleasurable kill ever.

"now... my king." she said. " it's time to start the executions." she said. NO, i yelled out in my head. i started panicking and started pulling more energy to myself. i'm not sure what i even was at this point. the conscious part of me must be my spirit. "follow me." she said.

"yes my queen." i said following right behind her. i stopped and she looked over my friends. even with this happening i wasn't even able to take control of my body still. i had been pulling so much energy and i've got tons of it already but i still couldn't do anything... whatever this is going to do it better work.

"now lets see... who goes first." said the queen. "i think i'll save you for last..." she said with her face close to twilight's. "it'll be nice seeing you loved ones die." twilight just started crying. she panned around a bit more and looked over my friends like she was shopping for clothes.

"crimson you son of a bitch you have to fight it." said applejack regaining her posure. the queen walked over to her.

"your resilience is growing tiresome... you'll go first." she said with a smile. like an obedient dog i walked over and pulled the sword from my sheath and held it up to applejack.

"damnit crimson you have to fight it... i know you can." she said.

"kill her." said the queen.

"crimson you-" was all she could say before i swiped my blade and slit her throat. her eyes shrunk and she gasped and churned for life but it wasn't long until she went limp and the slime gluing her to the floor released her and she fell to the ground lifeless and bleed all over the floor. the others cried and screamed in sadness and sorrow. i was boiling on the inside and yelling my head off trying to stop myself. i was a mess of tears and anger.

"well done my king." said the queen walking over. she held my head and gave me another deep kiss that made my rage and spite flourish inside of me. i'm sure now that if all this hatred wasn't being contained that it would destroy all of equestria. she broke away from me and looked over at celestia. "what's the matter celestia." said the queen. "heartbroken... you wouldn't mind cutting celestia down my king." asked the queen rubbing a hoof across my armoured chest.

"yes my queen." i said. without looking i used a magic blade to cut the stem from celestia's cocoon. she fell the the ground with a thump and i positioned her like the rest. the goo drained back and only binded her hooves and covered her horn. like twilight's and rarities.

"perfect my king." said the queen.

"you're a monster." said celestia.

"your just jealous that i stole the love of you're life." said the queen. celestia's face washed over with an expression of shock and she was speechless. she also didn't talk because i strand of good crawled up to her and covered her snout. "oh yes celestia... i know all about you're fantasies and dreams about crimson here... i know that you want him." said the queen. "crimson dear... grab celestia's wings."

"yes my queen." i said using two magical claws to reach out and rip celestia's wings from slime covering her.

"now break them..."

"yes my queen..." i said. i dare not describe how horribly i broke celestia's wings. the entire palace was filled with the sounds of her muffled screams and the crushing of bone. i've never heard the princess scream before... i i'll never unhear it. i let go of her wings and i could see tears falling from her face.

"good." said the queen. "now slit her throat." i screamed out in rage and tried harder than before to stop myself. i even started crying and begging some great power to stop this from happening. but it didn't help. i held my blade to celestia's neck... and i killed her. i cut her throat and she fell to the ground bleeding to death... it wasn't long after that she stopped breathing and died.

the other ponies cried out more than before knowing i had just killed celestia. twilight was the most affected. their tears had already started to was away applejack blood from the ground but now celestia's was added to the mix.

"now..." said the queen. "shall we continue." we both turned from celestia and over to my five remaining friends. it wasn't long until the queen set her sights on fluttershy who was crying and screaming louder than the others. "ugh... what a terrible sounding noise... please put an end to it my king." said the queen.

"yes my queen." i said. not fluttershy. i yelled and screamed and tore my head off trying to gain control but it wouldn't work... why can't i gain control...damnit why. it wasn't long before i was in front of fluttershy holding my sword to her. she had an intense look of fear in her eyes.

"please crimson no..." she said through her crying. "don't do thi-" is the last thing she said before i cut her throat. she gurgled and sputtered before collapsing to the ground bleeding. that broke me. i was sucking every bit of energy i could from my body and i was going to skin the queen alive and wear her as a COAT.

fluttershy's death caused the others to scream and cry some more.. cadence was crying and had her head down. and as for i... there were no words to describe the anger and hatred i was feeling inside. i knew that when i got out i was going to make the queen suffer for this... i'll repaint the castle with her blood.

"lets see now..." said the queen. her eyes soon floated over to rainbow dash. "if you're going to be my king you won't need her anymore..." she said.

"yes my queen." i said walking over to rainbow dash.

"and my king... make her death an example of you're power." she said.

"yes my queen." i said. i used my magic to raise several tentacles from behind me and pointed them at dash. they were dark green, sharp and had lots of holes in them. in a way it was fitting for the monster i had become.

"crimson i know you're still in there." said dash. "it's me you're wife... it's me dash... where you're friends not you're enemies, don't let her control you." dash kept saying. "remember who you are... all the fun we've had." somehow she was keeping me from killing her.

"silence..." said the queen.

"think about you're family, you're friends..." said dash.

"i said silence... kill her already." said the queen growing impatient.

"think about equestria and all the innocent ponies..."

"KILL HER." yelled the queen.

"Don't do it." yelled twilight.

"CRIMSON!" yelled dash.

"STOOOOOP" i roared causing an earthquake that nearly destroyed the castle. the ground continued to quake as my magic faltered and dissipated. i stepped back and i was now at an internal battle with myself. the ground kept shaking and the castle was falling apart. my armour and aura started flashing and my light tried to cover over the green of my aura.

"we must obey the queen." i said.

"NO..." i yelled.

"for the hive." i said again showing emotion this time.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD." i roared causing my light to slowly overcome the evil of my body.

"you fool stay down..." i said again.

"you dare challenge me..." i said... the real me. "you dare to take my body... force me into entrapment... make me watch as i kill my friends without emotion." i was starting to fire bolts of energy and i was seaping with power. my hatred and rage had caused my aura to go from light... to black.

"my queen... i cannot... hnng...fight it." the fake me said.

"i will not stand by and watch my loved ones suffer... i will not be so easily overcome...i...will...not...STOP" i yelled as i fired a huge burst of energy from my body and the whole kingdome of canterlot was filled with black energy which had slowly shifted to a golden white. when the light stopped i stood there adorned in golden armor and glowing from all over. i spread my wings and light shone down on my through the holes in the destroyed roof. i was in control now.

"what are you..." said the queen.

"i am crimson blast." i said. the voice of every soul i captured was echoing behind me. "and i will not stop until i have destroyed every last changeling... your life ends now." i said. i looked around the room to see everypony was in a huge state of shock... not relief but shock.

something felt wrong. i looked around and saw that everypony was staring at the ground beneath my feet. i looked down only to see myself. my body... it was my body. i stepped back in shock too. my body laid on the ground completely lifeless and stiff with my eyes wide in shock staring straight across the room without blinking. did i just kill myself... i don't care right now.

"no matter... shining armor's love is stronger than you can possibly imagine." she said with her horn glowing. she focused and fired a large beam from her horn that tore through everything in its path. but it passed right through me and kept going. when she stopped i stood there glaring with anger in the path of her attacks destruction. "thats not possible..." said the queen. i just growled and walked forward. "changelings kill him." she said.

i looked around and changelings started crawling in from every corner and hole. they were like a swarm of bugs. it didn't matter. they didn't even get close enough to touch me. i used my magic to fire shards and spikes from the ground killing every changeling that i saw within seconds. when they died i absorbed their souls and power and and they withered to ash.

i inched closer and closer to the queen as i massacred all of the changelings that crawled into the room. the queen kept backing up until she reached a wall and great fear spread over her face. i grew closer and closer and she grew more and more afraid. her minions were falling by the hundreds all around her and she knew that when i got to her that i was going to kill her. and soon enough i did get to her.

i used my magic to grab her by the neck with a magic claw and hold her up. she struggled to get free but it wasn't going to work. she tried prying herself free from my grip and she started kicking her hooves in a panic. i wasn't choking her to death... no, that's too good for her. she deserves to suffer. i'm not sure how to make people suffer... but i'll try my best. i used my magic to raise several sharp tentacles up into the air around us. all the changelings were either dead or fleeing.

"please don't" she said.

"you would beg for you're life..." i said shouting in rage and floating up to her level. "you are pathetic." i roared as i used my magic to pull both of her wings from her side and swiftly cut them off. she screamed in pain.

"AHHH STOP..." she yelled. there were a few tears falling from her face.

"do you know who i am?" i yelled getting closer to her. "DO YOU?" i asked again getting louder. she just whimpered and wept. "i am the last pony you want to fuck with..." i said. i got closer to her and quieted down. "i am going to drain the life from you and throw you're soul into a never ending limbo of darkness and suffering." i said.

"please..." she said crying.

"you are going to regret controlling me... you made me betray twilight, torture and kill the princess and my friends..." i said as a black aura swept over me and turned me and my magic and dark, dark black. "there are no places in hell were your suffering will be good enough." i said one last time before raising my a blade to her neck. she was about to cry out again but instead of listening to her, i cut off her head.

a large cloud of magical energy flew from her body and wrapped itself in me. i could see her memories and i began learning her powers. soon after a dark green trail of energy flowed from her and covered me too and soon enough i had fully absorbed her powers and her soul. but i'm not even sure if i want her soul. i'd rather see it burning in hell.

i let my grip go and her head fell to the floor followed by her body. i lowered myself to the ground and let out a deep sigh... then i started crying. the queens magic wore off and everypony was free. even shining armor was knocked out of his trance and looked to see what had happened... he didn't handle it well.

the whole room was silent except for me crying at the platform. nopony moved or said anything. they didn't know what to do. what do you do when this happens. all i could do was cry knowing that i had killed two of my best friends.

"crimson..." said twilight trying to get my attention. she was going to continue but i stopped her.

"NO..." i said. she was silent. "i don't want you're pity or comfort... it's not worth it... i don't deserve to have ever been you're friend in the first place. all i've done was let you all down time and time again and only cause trouble... but i'm going to fix this... i swear i will fix this."i said.

"crimson..." said twilight. that's all she said. i thought hard about a way to fix this and i looked at every possibility until one came into my head... it was the only possibility.

"i'm sorry..." i said as i stood up and calmed down knowing i could fix this. "i made this mess... and i can fix this... i'm not sure when i'll see you or the others again... but know that i did this because i love you all." i said.

"crimson?... what are you doing?" shouted dash.

"i'm finally doing something right with my life." i said as a black cloudy vortex opened up in front of me. i didn't summon it... but i called it.

"crimson no wait..." said twilight. but i ignored her and walked forward into the portal. i walked into it and everything went black and i was someplace else. the portal closed behind me and i looked forward... into the plains of purgatory.

"DEATH..." i shouted. "I DEMAND TO SEE YOU." and on cue a black mountain of smoke and darkness rose from the ground and formed in shape and size. it solidified and took form as large hooded figure with a giant scythe on his back and dark long robes. i knew what i was doing.

"well well well..." said death. "if it isn't my favorite mortal... well you were... but you're not as mortal as the last time we met..." he laughed but i remained unentertained. "i know why you're here." he said.

"i want the souls of my friends and the princess." i said.

"your friends are going to be a soul each." he said like we were doing business.

"fine..." i said.

"wonderful..." grabbed his scythe and smashed it on the ground creating a rift. i reached in and pulled two spirits from the ground. they had the figures of fluttershy and applejack. they seemed scared and confused but when they saw me they smiled. but then they were gone and in their place two souls were taken from me and thrown into the pit to be judged. "it's been long since i've done business with a being... i must thank you for this."

"i don't need you're thanks..." i said. i didn't want to be friends with death even though he wasn't ever a problem for me. i was overly determined. "i need the soul of princess celestia too." i said. he stopped and laughed. "don't laugh at me... give me her soul." i yelled.

"you may be powerful but you are a fool." he said. "the soul you seek is a soul greater than you might think... her soul is worth the cost of millions of souls.

"then take my souls." i said gleaming with rage and starting to glow. i grit my teeth and in a burst of extraordinary power i released all the souls i had collected. the changeling souls. all of them even the souls of seiko and all the souls she has taken. they all made a roar as they careened towards the sky and started towering over death and all of purgatory. they clustered and formed and large and continuously growing cloud of souls.

"you fool..." said death.

"take them..." i said. "take them all... if they're not enough, take my power... my possessions... MY LIFE." i roared.

"you are either the most foolish being i've ever seen... if you want to make this trade i should warn you of the cost." said death.

"ANYTHING..." i said yelling "I WILL NOT FAIL MY FRIENDS"

"i will take the souls... and i will take you..." he said . he picked me up and held me in his bony hand. the souls above were pulled into a pit which then closed.

"i don't care... you can have me." i said.

"i cannot have you're soul though..." he said. "but i will have you're life... you're memories, experiences and emotions... i will consume all that you were and throw you back into the world with nothing to you're name... you wished to play with death... NOW YOU WILL SEE WHAT IS FEARED MORE THAN DEATH." he roared.

i huge beam of light fired from his hood and covered me in light. i yelled as i felt the pain of all my memories and thoughts being ripped from my head. i started to forget everything... i yelled out one last time and everything went white.

twilight... dash... applejack... fluttershy... pinkie... rarity... derek... scootaloo... mystee... dawn... celestia...luna... everypony...

****i will see you all again!

**-THE END-**

****-Authors Note: it's not a trick... you read it right. "THE END". that's the end of the book... but the story inst over yet (foreshadowing). i'm going to be making a new story that continues after this one. all OC's and other things will be moved to that book... so go fucking read it (when i make it). i'll probably delay it for a while to let the drama and suspense build up... keep reading guys. and fucking stay shady.-End of Note-


	80. ---EPILOGUE---

**-EPILOGUE-**

**a lot of you guys seem confused about this... here is what happened.**

**.**

**.**

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**CRIMSON IS NOT DEAD... NOBODY IS DEAD (anymore)**

**he used his powers to travel to the planes of purgatory where he traded the souls he captured for the souls of fluttershy and applejack along with the soul of princess celestia. but seeing as celestia was too powerful of a being death was forced to take more than crimsons souls.**

**death cannot touch crimsons soul for reasons that i have yet to reveal... but he did take his memories and former emotions to other ponies. and he took his body too... but not his power or his soul. without his memories and his body crimson has no means of carrying out his promises nor can he use his magical abilities which lay deeply buried in his conscious.**

**i'm going to start work on a new book after i let the drama and anticipation settle in for a bit and drive you guys crazy. **

**i hope this cleared up any confusion and i'm going to keep this up for anybody who reads this story in the future.**

**so be patient... keep calm**

**-and stay shady-**


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